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THE    HOLIEST    OF    ALL 


Any  profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  this  book  will  be  devoted  to  the  extension 
of  our  educational  and  religious  work  connected  with  the  Huguenot  Seminary 
at  Wellington.  And  if  there  be  any  readers,  to  whom  the  book  brings  a 
blessing,  and  who  desire  to  help  us,  by  their  prayers  or  gifts,  we  shall  be  glad 
to  be  their  str.iards,  and  use  their  gifts  in  the  A/aster's  soi'ice.  Address  : 
Ifytllington,  South  Africa. 


THE 


HOLIEST    OF    ALL 


^N   EXPOSITION   OF 
THE    EPISTLE    TO    THE    HEBREWS 


BY   THE    REV. 

ANDREW  Murray 

AUTHOR    OF 

'abide    in    CHRIST"    "why   DO   YOU    NOT    BELIEVE? 
ETC.    ETC. 


^achj    fork 
ANSON    D.   F.   R.^NDOLPH    fi:    CO.   INC. 
182  Fifth  Avenue 


MORRISON   AND  OIBU,   PRli(TKR3,    EDIKBUBOII. 


PREFACE. 


When  first  I  undertook  the  preparation  of  this  exposition  in 
Dutch  for  the  Christian  people  among  whom  I  labour,  it  was 
under  a  deep  conviction  that  the  Epistle  just  contained  the 
instruction  they  needed.  In  reproducing  it  in  English,  this 
impression  has  been  confirmed,  and  it  is  as  if  nothing  could  be 
written  more  exactly  suited  to  the  state  of  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ  in  the  present  day.  The  great  complaint  of  all  who  have 
the  care  of  souls  is  the  lack  of  whole-heartedness,  of  stedfast- 
ness,  of  perseverance  and  progress  in  the  Christian  life.  Many, 
of  whom  one  cannot  but  hope  that  they  are  true  Christians,  come 
.to  a  standstill,  and  do  not  advance  beyond  the  rudiments  of 
Christian  life  and  practice.  And  many  more  do  not  even 
remain  stationary,  but  turn  back  to  a  life  of  worldliness,  of 
formality,  of  indifference.  And  the  question  is  continually 
being  asked,  What  is  the  want  in  our  religion  that,  in  so  many 
cases,  it  gives  no  power  to  stand,  to  advance,  to  press  on  unto 
perfection  ?  And  what  is  the  teaching  that  is  needed  to  give 
that  health  and  vigour  to  the  Christian  life  that,  through  all 
adverse  circumstances,  it  may  be  able  to  hold  fast  the  beginning 
firm  to  the  end. 


vi  Ipceface 

The  teaching  of  the  Epistle  is  the  divine  answer  to  these 
questions.  In  every  possible  way  it  sets  before  us  the  truth  that 
it  is  only  the  full  and  perfect  knowledge  of  what  Christ  is  and 
does  for  us  that  can  bring  us  to  a  full  and  perfect  Christian  life. 
The  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  that  we  need  for  conversion 
does  not  suffice  for  growth,  for  progress,  for  sanctification,  for 
maturity.  Just  as  there  are  two  dispensations,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  New,  and  the  saints  of  the  Old,  with  all  their  faith 
and  fear  of  God,  could  not  obtain  the  more  perfect  life  of  the 
New,  so  with  the  two  stages  in  the  Christian  life  of  which  the 
Epistle  speaks.  Those  who,  through  sloth,  remain  babes  in 
Christ,  and  do  not  press  on  to  maturity,  are  ever  in  danger  of 
hardening  their  heart,  of  coming  short  and  falling  away.  Only 
those  who  hold  fast  the  beginning  firm  to  the  end,  who  give 
diligence  to  enter  the  rest,  who  press  on  unto  perfection,  do  in 
very  deed  inherit  and  enjoy  the  wonderful  new  covenant  blessings 
secured  to  us  in  Christ.  And  the  great  object  of  the  Epistle  is 
to  show  us  that  if  we  will  but  follow  the  Lord  fully,  and  yield 
ourselves  wholly  to  what  God  in  Christ  is  ready  to  do,  we  shall 
find  in  the  gospel  and  in  Christ  everything  that  we  need  for  a 
life  of  joy  and  strength  and  final  victory. 

The  cure  the  Epistle  has  for  all  our  failures  and  feebleness, 
J  the  one  preservative  from  all  danger  and  disease,  is — the  know- 
ledge of  the  higher  truth  concerning  Jesus,  the  knowledge  of 
I  Him  in  His  heavenly  priesthood.     In  connection  with  this  truth, 
the  writer  has  three  great  mysteries  he  seeks  to  unfold.     The 
one  is  that  the  heavenly  sanctuary  has  been  opened  to  us,  so 
that  we  may  now  come  and  take  our  place  there,  with  Jesus  in 


Ipcefacc  vii 

the  very  presence  of  God.  The  second,  that  the  new  and  living  ^-' 
way  by  which  Jesus  has  entered,  the  way  of  self-sacrifice  and 
perfect  obedience  to  God,  is  the  way  in  which  we  now  may  and 
must  draw  nigh.  The  third,  that  Jesus,  as  our  heavenly  High  -^ 
Priest,  is  the  minister  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  and  dispenses 
to  us  its  blessings,  the  spirit  and  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life, 
in  such  a  way  that  we  can  live  in  the  world  as  those  who  are 
come  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  in  whom  the  spirit  of 
heaven  is  the  spirit  of  all  their  life  and  conduct ;  the  heavenly 
priesthood  of  Jesus,  heaven  opened  to  us  day  by  day,  our 
entering  it  by  the  new  and  living  way,  and  heaven  entering  us 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Such  is  the  gospel  to  the  Hebrews  the 
Epistle  brings,  such  is  the  life  to  which  it  reveals  the  way  and 
the  strength.  The  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  character  of 
Christ's  person  and  work  is  what  alone  can  make  heavenly 
Christians,  who,  amid  all  the  difficulties  and  temptations  of  life 
on  earth,  can  live  as  those  whom  the  superior  power  of  the 
upper  world  has  possessed,  and  in  whom  it  can  always  give  the 
victory. 

In  offering  these  meditations  now  to  a  wider  circle  of 
readers,  I  do  so  with  the  prayer  that  it  may  please  God  to  use 
them  to  inspire  some  of  His  children  with  new  confidence  in 
their  blessed  Lord,  as  they  learn  to  know  Him  better  and  give 
themselves  up  to  expect  and  experience  all  that  He  is  able  to 
do  for  them.  I  have  not  been  afraid  of  continually  repeating 
the  one  thought :  02tr  one  need  is,  to  knozv  Jesus  better ;  the  one 
cure  for  all  our  feebleness,  to  look  to  H!im  on  the  throne  of 
heaven,  and  really  claim  the  heavenly  life  He  waits  to  impart. 


preface 

Just  as  I  was  about  to  write  the  Preface  to  the  Dutch  issue, 
in  the  first  week  of  last  year,  I  received  from  my  beloved 
colleague  as  a  New  Year's  text,  with  the  wish  that  it  might  be 
my  experience,  the  words :  "  Jesus  taketh  with  Him  Peter  and 
James  and  John,  and  bringeth  them  into  a  high  mountain,  apart 
by  tJicmschcs,  and  He  luas  transfigured  before  them."  I  at  once 
passed  the  word  on  to  my  readers,  and  I  do  so  again.  May  the 
blessed  Master  take  us  with  Himself  into  the  Jiigh  mountain, 
even  the  Mount  Sion,  where  He  sits  as  Priest-King  upon  the 
throne  in  power,  each  of  us  apart  by  himself,  and  prepare  us  for 
the  blessed  vision  of  seeing  Him  transfigured  before  us,  scoxng 
Him  in  His  heavenly  glory.  He  will  then  still  be  to  us  the 
same  Jesus  we  know  now.  And  yet  not  the  same;  but  His 
whole  Being,  bright  with  the  glory  and  the  power  of  the 
heavenly  life  which  He  holds  for  us,  and  waits  to  impart  day  by 
day  to  them  who  forsake  all  to  follow  Him. 

In  humble  trust  and  prayer  that  it  may  be  so,  I  commend 
all  my  readers  to  His  blessed  teaching  and  guidance. 

ANDREW    MURRAY. 


13///  September  1894^ 


CONTENTS. 


THE  EPISTLE 
INTRODUCTION    . 


PAGE 
I 

19 


FIRST  HALF-DO CTRINAL.-Chap.  i -x.  18. 

The  Son  of  God 
the  Mediator  of  the  Better  Covenant. 


THE  THEME.-i.  1-3. 
The  Glory  of  the  Son  in  His  Person  and  Work. 

NO.  CHAP.    VER. 

I.  i. — I.  The  Son — in  whom  God  hath  spoken 
II.  2.  The  Son — more  than  the  Prophets  . 

III.  3.  The  Son — the  glory  of  His  Person  . 

IV.  3.  The  Son — the  glory  of  His  Work    . 


PAGE 

31 

35 
39 
43 


FIRST  SECTION.-i.  4-14. 
The  Son  of  God  more  than  the  Angels. 

V.  i. — 4,  5.  The  Son — a  more  excellent  Name   . 

VI.  5,  6.  The  Son — the  Only  Begotten 

vn.  7-9.  The  Son — Himself  God 

VIII.  10-12.  The  Son — the  Everlasting  Creator  . 

IX.  13,  14.  The  Son — on  the  right  hand  of  God 


47 
51 
55 
59 
63 


Contents 


THE  FIRST  WARNING.-ii.  1-4. 
To  take  heed  to  what  the  Son  speaks. 

NO.  CHAP.      VER. 

X.         ii, — 1-4.  The  clanger  of  neglecting  so  great  salvation 

SECOND  SECTION.-ii.  5-18. 
Jesus  as  man  more  than  the  Angels. 
The  Reasons  of  His  Humiliation. 
XI.         ii. —  5-9.  The  world  made  subject  to  man,  not  to  angels 
xii.  8,  9.  We  see  Jesus  crowned  with  gloi^  and  honour 

XIII.  9.  Jesus  tasting  death  for  every  man    . 

Xl\ .  10.  The  Leader  of  our  .Salvation 

XV.  10.   For  whom  and  through  whom  are  all  things 

XVI.  11-13.  Jesus  calls  us  brethren 

XVII.  14,  15.  That  He  might  bring  to  nought  the  devil    . 

xviii.  16-18.  A  High  Priest  able  to  succour 


PAGE 
67 


71 

75 
79 
83 
87 
91 
95 
99 


THIRD  SECTION.-iu.  1-6. 
Christ  Jesus  more  than  Moses. 
XIX.  iii.  —  I.  Consider  Jesus  .... 

XX.  1-6.  Christ  and  Moses      .... 

XXI.  6.   If  we  hold  fast  our  boldness  firm  to  the  end 


103 
107 
III 


THE  SECOND  WARNING.-iii.  7-iv.  13. 
Not  to  come  short  of  the  promised  Rest. 

XXII.  iii. — 7-11.  On  hearing  the  voice  of  God 

XXIII.  7.   Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith 

XXIV.  7.   To-day 
xx\'.  12.  An  evil  heart  of  unbelief 

XXVI.  13.   E.xhort  one  another  d.iy  by  d.-iy 

XXVII.  14,  15.  Partakers  of  Christ  . 

XXVIII.  16-19.  The  Rest  in  Canaan 

XXIX.  iv.  — 1-3.  The  Rest  of  Faith   . 

XXX.  4-8.  The  Rest  of  God 

XX \i.  9,  10.  Rest  from  works 

XXXII.  II.  Give  diligence  to  enter  into  the  Rest 

xxxiii.  12,  13.  The  heart-reaching  Word  of  God     . 


"5 
119 
123 
127 
131 
13s 
»39 
H3 
147 
»5i 
155 
159 


Contents 


NO. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 

XXXVITI. 

XXXIX. 

XL. 

XLI. 


FOURTH  SECTION.-iv.  14-v.  10. 
Jesus  our  High  Priest  more  than  Aaron. 


CHAP.      VER. 


PAGE 

iv. — 14.  A  great  High  Priest              .             .             .             .  163 

15.  A  High  Priest  able  to  sympathise    .             .             .  167 

16.  Let  us  draw  near  with  boldness        .             .             .  171 
V. — 1-3.  The  High  Priest  bearing  gently  with  the  ignorant  .  175 

4-6.  The  High  Priest  called  by  God        .             .             .  179. 

7,  8.  The  High  Priest  learning  obedience             .             .  183 

8,  9.  The  High  Priest  perfected  through  obedience           .  187 
8,  9.  The  High  Priest  saving  the  obedient            .             .  191 


THE  THIRD  WARNING.-v.  11-vi.  20. 


Against  Sloth  and  Apostasy. 

XLii.  10-12.  The  sin  of  not  growing 

XLIII.  13,  14.  Solid  food  for  the  perfect 

XLIV.  vi. — 1-3.   Let  us  press  on  to  perfection 

XLV.  4-8.  The  danger  of  falling  away  . 

XLVi.  9-12.  Of  Diligence  and  Perseverance 

XLVii.  I3-IS-  Inheriting  the  Promises 

XLViii.  16-18.  The  Oath  of  God     . 

XLix.  1S-20.  The  Forerunner  within  the  Veil 


19s 
199 
203 
207 
211 

215 
219 

223 


riPTH  SECTION.-viii:  1-28. 

The  New  Priesthood  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 

L.        vli. — 1-3.  Melchizedek  made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God  .         227 

LI.               4-10.  Melchizedek  more  than  Abraham    .             .  .         231 

Lii.             11-14.  Melchizedek  more  than  Aaron  and  the  Law  235 

Liii.              I5-I7-  A  Priest  for  ever — the  power  of  an  endless  life  239 

LIV.             18,  19.  A  better  hope — drawing  nigh  to  God            .  .         243 

LV.             20-22.  Jesus  the  Surety  of  a  Better  Covenant          .  .         247 

LVi.             23-25,  A  High  Priest  able  to  save  completely        .  .         251 

LVii.              26-28.  A  High  Priest — the  Son  perfected  for  evermore  .         255 


Contcntd 

SIXTH  SECTION.-viii.  1-13. 
The  New  Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant 

NO,              CHAP.      VER.  I-AGE 

LViii.           viii. — I.  The  Priest-King  on  the  Throne       .             .            .  259 

Lix.                 1-5.  The  Priest-King,  the  Minister  of  the  Sanctuary       .  263 

LX.                 6-9.  The  Priest-King,  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Covenant  267 

LXi.                   10.  The  New  Covenant — the  Central  Blessing               .  271 

LXii.             10,  II.  The  Crowning  Blessing        ....  275 

LXiii.             12,  13.  The  Initial  Blessing             ....  279 


SEVENTH  SECTION.-Ls.  1-28. 

The  Power  of  Christ's  Blood  to  inaugurate  the  New  Sanctuary  and  the 
New  Covenant. 


LXIV. 

LXV. 

LXVI. 

LXVU. 

LXVIII. 

LXIX. 

LXX. 


1.XXII. 
LXXIII. 
LXXIV. 


ix. — 1-7,  The  Holy  Place  and  the  Most  Holy        ~   .            .  283 

S-io.  The  Holy  Spirit  and  the  way  into  the  Holiest  2S7 

II,  12.  The  opening  of  the  Holiest  .  .  .  .291 

12.  The  power  of  Christ's  blood  to  open  the  Holiest     .  295 

13,  14.  The  power  of  Christ's  blood  to  cleanse  the  conscience  299 

14.  Through  the  Eternal  Spirit              .            .            .  303 

14.  The  power  of  Christ's  blood  to  fit  for  the  service 

of  the  Living  God         ....  307 
15-17.  Christ's   death    ratifying    the    Covenant    and    the 

Testament         .  .  .  .  .311 

18-22.  Even  the  First  Covenant  not  without  blood  315 

23,24.   Heaven  itself  cleansed  by  the  blood              .  319 

25-28.  Sin  put  away  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself     .            .  323 


EIGHTH  SECTION.-x.  1-18. 

The  New  Way  into  the  Holiest. 

Lxxv.  X.  — 14.  The  Sacrifices  of  the  Law  cannot  make  perfect 
i.xxvi.  5-7.  A  Body  didst  Thou  prepare  for  Me 

1.XXVII.  8-10.   Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will 

Lxxviii.  11-14.  Once  and  for  ever    . 
Lxxix.  14.  The  Sanctified  perfected  for  ever 

Lxxx.  15-18.  The  Witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit 


327 
33 « 
335 
339 
343 
347 


Contents 


SECOND  HALF-PRACTICAL. 
Chap.  X.  19-xiii.  25. 

Of  a  Life  in  the  Power  of  the  Great  Salvation. 


NINTH  SECTION.-x.  19-25. 
Of  Life  in  the  Holiest. 


NO. 

LXXXI. 

LXXXII. 

LXXXIII. 

LXXXIV. 

LXXXV. 

LXXXVI. 

LXXXV  1 1. 

LXXXVIII. 

LXXXIX. 

XC. 

XCI. 

XCII. 


CHAP.    VER. 


-19.  The  Entrance  into  the  Holiest 

19.  Boldness  in  the  Blood 

20.  The  New  and  Living  Way  . 

-21.  A  Great  Priest  over  the  House  of  God 
22.  A  True  Heart 
22.   In  Fulness  of  Faith 
22.  Our  hearts  sprinkled 
22.  Our  Body  washed     . 

22.  Let  us  draw  near 

23.  The  Confession  of  our  Hope 

24.  Love  and  Good  Works 

25.  The  assembling  together 


PAGE 

353 
357 
361 
365 
369 
373 
377 
38t 
385 
389 
393 
397 


THE  FOURTH  WARNING.-x.  26-39. 

Against  sinning  vrtlfully  and  drawing  back. 

XClil.  X.— 25,  27.   Of  wilful  Sin 
xciv.  28-31.  Sin  against  the  Triune  God 

xcv.  32-34.  The  former  Days      . 

xcvi.  35,  36,  Boldness  and  Patience 

xcvix.  37-39'  Believing  or  drawing  back  . 


401 

405 
409 

413 

417 


Contentd 


TENTH  SECTION.-xi.  1-40. 

The  Fulness  of  Faitiu 

NO.  CMAP.    VEK. 

xcviii.  xi. — 1-3.  Faith — the  sense  of  ihe  Unseen 

xcix.  4.  Abel — the  Sacrifice  of  Faith 

c.  5,  6.   Knoch — the  Walk  of  Faith 

CI.  7.  Noah — the  Work  of  Faith 

cii.  S-io.  Abraham — the  Obedience  of  Faith  . 

("III.  11,12.  Sarah— Faith  in  the  P'aithfulness  of  God 

CIV.  «3-i6.   Faith,  and  its  Pilgrim  Spirit 

cv.  17-19-  Isaac — Faith  in  the  Power  of  Cod  . 

cvi.  20-23.  I'^'th  blessing  the  children  . 

CVII.  24,  25.  Moses  and  the  decision  of  Faith 

cviii.  27-31.  Israel  and  Redemption  by  Faith 

cix.  32-34.  Faith  and  its  Power  of  Achievement 

^^-  35~3^-  Faith  and  its  Power  of  Endurance  . 

CXI.  39,  40.  Some  Better  Thing  for  us    . 


ELEVENTH  SECTION.-xii.  1-13. 


The  Patience  of  Hope. 


CXII. 

xii.  —  I. 

Run  with  patience  the  race 

CXIII. 

2. 

Looking  unto  Jesus  .            .             .             . 

CXIV. 

3-5- 

Faint  not      .             .             .             .             . 

cxv. 

7-10. 

Chastening  and  Holiness 

<XVI. 

11   13. 

\'et  afterward           .... 

THE  FIFTH  WARNING.-xii.  14-29. 

To  beware  of  Sin  and  rejection  of  Jesus. 

cxvii.  14.   Follow  after  Sanctification 

cxvni.  'S-'7-  Of  falling  short  of  the  Grace  of  God 

cxix.  iS-25.  Not  Sinai,  but  Sion 

cxx.  22-24.  Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  .Sion 

cxxi.  25-29.  Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire 


Contents 


TWELFTH  SECTION.-ziil.  1-25. 
Love  and  Good  Works. 


NO.  CHAP.    VER. 

cxxii.  xiii. — 1-4.  Of  Love 

cxxiii.  5,6.  Of  False  and  True  Riches    . 

cxxiv.  7,  8.  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  for  ever 

cxxv.  9-14'  Let  us  go  forth,  without  the  camp 

cxxvi.  15-19'  Well-pleasing  sacrifice 

cxxvii.  20.   The  God  of  Peace — what  He  hath  done  for 

cxxviH.  21.  The  God  of  Peace — what  lie  will  do  in  us 

cxxix.  21.  To  whom  be  glory  for  ever 

cxxx.  22-25.   Parting  Words 


PAGE 
529 

533 
537 
541 
545 
549 


THE    EPISTLE    TO    THE    HEBREWS. 


Ei}e  ItnotoUtiQe  of  ttje  ^oit  of  (S^oti  tjje  <Strenstf)  of  tje 
Cljristtan  3Ltfe. 


FIRST    HALF— DOCTRINAL.-Chap.  i.-x.  18. 

The  Son  of  God 
the  Mediator  of  a  Better  Covenant. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   THEME. -i.  1-3. 

The  Glory  of  the  Son  in  His  Person  and  Work. 


Q.OD,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto 
the   fathers    in    the    proi^hets    by 
(livers  portions  and  in  divers  manners, 

2  Hath  at  the  end  of  these  days 
spoken  unto  ns  in  his  Son,  wlioui  he 
appointed  heir  of  all  things,  throngh 
whom  also  he  made  the  worlds  ; 


3  Who  being  the  effulgence  of  his 
glory,  and  the  very  image  of  his  sub- 
stance, and  upholding  all  things  by  the     "C'h.2.  9;  4. 
word  of  his  power,  when  he  had  made  }^  >  J^-  ^'\  J- 
puriticatiou  of  sins,  sat  down  on  the  j  ■'9'''i2  94  • 
right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high ;  ■=        io'_  {^ ;  il.  z 

24J  25.' 


FIRST    SECTION.-i.   4-14. 
The  Son  of  God  more  than  the  Angels. 


The  Son — a  more  excellent 
Name. 

*  Ch.  1.4;      4  Having  become  by  so  much  better  * 
6.9;  7.7,19,  than  the  angels,  as  he  hath  inlierited  a 


22;  8 

23;  10.  34; 
11.16,35,40; 
12.  24. 


more  excellent  name  than  they. 

The  Son— the  Only  Begotten. 

5  For  unto  which  of  the  angels  said 
he  at  any  time,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this 
day  have  I  begotten  thee  ?  And  again, 
I  will  be  to  him  a  Father,  and  he  shall 
be  to  me  a  Son  ? 

6  And   when  he  again  bringeth    in 
18;  Rev.  1.5.  the  firstborn'^  into  the  world  he  saith, 

I 


'^  Rom, 
29;    Col 


And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship 
him. 

7  And  of  tlie  angels  he  saith,  Who 
maketh  his  angels  winds,  and  his 
ministers  a  flame  of  fire  : 

The  Son  Himself  God. 

8  But  of  the  Son  he  saith,  Thy  throne, 
0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever ;  and  the 
sceptre  of  uprightness  is  the  sceptre  of 
thy  kingdom. 

9  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness,  and 
hated  iniquity  ;  therefore  God,  thy  God, 
hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  glad- 
ness above  thy  fellows. 


Zbc  Dolicst  of  BU 


The  Son— the  Everlasting: 
Creator. 

10  And,  Thou,  Lord,  in  thebegiuniu},' 
hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth, 
and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thy 
hands: 

11  They  shall  i)eri.sh  ;  but  thou  con- 
tinuest :  and  they  all  shall  wax  old  as 
doth  a  garment ; 

12  And  as  a  mantle  shalt  thou  roll 
them  up,  as  a  garment,  and  they  shall 


lie  changed  :  but  thou  art  the  same,  and 
thy  years  shall  not  fail. 

The  Son— on  the  Right  Hand  of 
God. 

13  But  of  which  of  the  angels  bath 

he  said  at  anv  time,  Sit  thou  on  my 
ri;j;ht  hand,  till  T  inaku  thine  enemies 
the  Ibolstool  of  thy  feet  ? 

14  Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits, 
sent  forth  to  do  service  for  the  sake  of 
them  that  shall  inherit  salvation  ? 


CHAPTER    II. 


"Ch.  1.  I, 
2;  3.  7.  19; 
4.  2,  11;  5. 
11 ;  G.  5  ;  10 
26,39;  12.25. 


THE   FIRST   WARNING. 

Chap.  ii.  1-4. 

To  take  heed  to  what  the  Son  speaks  (1-4). 


rrHEREFORE  we  ought  to  give  the 
more  earnest  heed  to  the  things  that 
were  heard,"  lest  haply  we  drift  away 
from  them. 

2  For  if  the  word  spoken  through 
angels  proved  stedfast,  and  every  trans- 
gression and  disobedience  received  a 
just  recomjiense  of  reward  ; 

3  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect 


so  great  salvation  ?  which  having  at  the 
first  been  spoken  through  the  Lord, 
was  confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that 
heard  ; 

4  God  also  bearing  witness  >vith 
them,  both  by  signs  and  wonders,  and 
by  manifold  powers,  and  by  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  liis  o^vn 
will. 


SECOND    SECTION.-ii.   5-18. 

Jesus  as  Man  more  than  the  Angels, 
The  Reason  of  His  Humiliation. 


All  Things  made  subject  to  Man, 
not  to  Angels. 

."•  For  not  unto  angels  did  he  subject 
the  world  to  come,  whereof  we  speak. 

(■>  But  one  hath  somewhere  testified, 
saying,  What  is  man,  that  thou  art 
mindful  of  him?  or  the  son  of  man, 
tli.at  thou  vi.sitest  him  ? 

7  Thou  madest  him  a  little  lower 
thau  the  angels  ;  thou  crownedst  him 
with  glory  and  lionour,  and  didst  set 
him  over  the  works  of  thy  hands : 


8  Thou  didst  put  all  things  in  sub- 
jection under  his  feet.  For  in  that  he 
subjected  all  things  unto  him,  he  left 
nothing  that  is  not  subject  to  him. 
But  now  we  .see  not  yet  all  things  sub- 
jected to  him. 

Man's  Destiny  fulfilled  in 
Jesus. 

9  lUit  \\r  IhIimI'I  him  who  hath  been 
made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
fi'e/j  •!'   ii  ,  because  of  the  suflfering  of 


^be  Ibolicst  of  au 


death  crowned  witli  glory  and  honoui 
that  bj'  the  grace  of  God  he  should  taste 
death  for  every  mail. 

The  Reasons  for  tbe  Humiliation 
of  Jesus — 

10  For  it  became  him,  for  whom  are 

all  things,  and  through  whom  are  all 

things,   in    bringing    many  sons  \into 

a  CIi.  6. 19 ;  glory,  to  make  the  author"  of  their  salva- 

12.  2 ;  13. 13.  tiou  perfect  through  sufferings. 

1.  His  being  made  perfect  as 
our  Leader. 

*  Ch.  3.  1 ;      11  For  both  he  that  sauctifieth*  and 

6.  10;  S.  2;  they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one; 

in  ^^'r}^'^  'in'  ^^^  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to 

20-  12  10  14   ^^^^  *^^"^  brethren, 

16 '•  13. 12.  '  12  Saying,  I  will  declare  thy  name 
unto  my  brethren,  in  tlie  midst  of 
the  congregation  will  I  sing  thy 
praise. 

13  And  again,  I  will  put  my  trust 
in  him.  And  again.  Behold,  I  and 
the  children  which  God  hath  given 
me. 


2.  Our  Deliverance  from  the 

power  of  the  Devil. 

14  Since  then  the  children  are  sharers 
in  fiesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  in 
like  manner  partoolc  of  the  same  ;  that 
through  deatli  he  might  bring  to  nought 
him  that  had  the  jiower  of  death,  that 
is,  the  devil ; 

15  And  might  deliver  all  them  who 
through  fear  of  death  were  all  their 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 

3.  That  He  might  become  a 

Merciful  High  Priest. 

16  For  verily  not  of  angels  doth  he 
take  hold,  but  he  taketh  hold  of  the 
seed  of  Abi-aham. 

17  Wherefore  it  behoved  him  in  all 

things  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren '-'  c  ch.  2. 14 ; 
that  he  might  be  a  mei'ciful  and  faith-  4.15;  5.2,3; 
ful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to  10-  ^^  \\  12. 
God,  to  make  propitiation  for  the  sins  " 
of  the  peoiile. 

18  For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suf- 
fered being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  suc- 
cour them  that  are  tempted. 


13.  13. 


CHAPTER    III. 


THIRD    SECTION.-iii.  1-6. 

Christ  Jesus  more  than  Moses. 


Christ  faithful  as  Moses. 

WHEREFORE,  holy  brethren,    par- 

«'  Ch.  1.  3;  takers  of  a  heavenly  calling,*^  con- 

S.  1.  '  sider  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of 

'  Ch.  4. 14 ;  our  confession,  <^  even  Jesus  ; 
10.   23  ;   11.      2  Wlio  was  faithful  to  him  that  ap- 
13  ;  13.  15.     pointed  him,  as  also  was  .Moses  in  all 
his  house. 

Christ  the  Son,  more  than 
Moses,  the  Servant. 

3  For  he  hath  been  counted  worthy 
of  more  glory  than  Moses,  by  so  much 


as  he  that  built  the  house  hath  more 
honour  than  the  house. 

4  For  every  house  is  builded  by  some  /ch.  4. 16  • 
one ;  but  he  that  built  all  things  is  6. 18 ;  io!  19,' 
God.  35  ;  13.  6. 

5  And  Moses  indeed  was  faithful  in  f'Ch.  el.  11, 
all  his  house  as  a  servant,  for  a  testi-  J^  •  \}^}  ^^' 
mony  of  those  things  which  were  after-  "  hQ\i%\\- 
ward  to  be  spoken  ;  4.  14  •  5.'  12,' 

6  But  Christ  as  a  son,  over  his  i4;  e.'is,  19- 
house;  whose  house  are  we,  if  we  9. 17;  10. 23; 
hoUl  fajt  _ou_r._boldness  /  and  -the  H-  2":  12. 28. 
gloryiug^oF^ur  hope^  firiu  imto.  the 

elid.'''^        


Zbc  Ibolfest  of  ail 


'  Ch.  3. 12. 

*Ch  9.14; 

10.31;  12.22. 


THE    SECOND    WARNING. 

Chap.  iii.  7  iv.  13. 

Not  to  come  short  of  the  promised  Rest. 


How  Israel  failed. 

7  Wlu'i  cl'ore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost 
.saith,  To-day  if  ye  shall  hear  his  voice, 

8  Harden  not  youi-  hearts,  as  in  the 
provocation,  like  as  in  the  day  of  the 
temptation  in  the  wilderness, 

9  Wherewith  yonr  fathers  tempted 
vie  by  proving  itie,  aud  saw  my  works 
forty  yeans. 

10  Wlierefore  T  was  displeased  with 
this  generation,  and  said.  They  doalway 
err  in  their  heart ;  hut  they  did  not 
know  my  ways  ; 

11  As  I  sware  in  my  wrath.  They 
shall  not  enter  into  my  rest. 

The  Need  of  Perseverance. 

12  Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  haply 
there  shall  be  in  any  one  of  you  an  evil 
heart"  of  unbelief,  in  falling  away  from 
the  living  God  -^  : 

13  But  exhort  one  another  day  by 
day,  so  long  as  it  is  called  To-day  ;  lest 


any  one  of   you  be   hardened   by  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin : 

14  For  we  are  become  jmrtakers  of 
Christ,  if  we  liohUils^tb^  beginniiig_£f 
our  confidence  tirnij.uito  tlifilfiiid  : 

ir'WTiTirTri;'  saicf.  To-day  if  ye 
shall  hear  his  voiti',  harden  not  .your 
hearts,  as  in  the  provocation. 

Israel's  Unbelief  and 
Disobedience. 

It)  For  who,  when  they  heard,  did 
provoke?  nay,  did  not  all  they  that 
came  out  of  Egypt  by  Moses? 

17  And  with  whom  w;i.s  h^;  displeased 
I'orty  years  ?  was  it  not  with  them  that 
sinned,  whose  carcases  fell  in  the 
wilderness  ? 

15  And  to  whom  sware  he  that  they 
should  not  enter  into  his  re.st,  but  to 
them  that  were  disobedient? 

19  And  we  see  that  they  were  not 
able  to  enter  in  because  of  unbelief. 


CHAPTEE    IV. 


By  Faith  we  enter  the  Rest. 

T  ET  us  fear  therefore,  lest  hajdy,  a 
■'-'  promise  being  left  of  entering  into 
his  rest,  any  one  of  you  shouhl  seem 
to  have  come  short  of  it. 

2  For  indeed  we  have  had  good 
tidings  preached  unto  us,  even  as 
also  they:  but  the  word  of  hearing  did 
not  prolit  them,  because  they  were 
not  united  by  faith  with  them  that 
heard. 

3  For  we  which  have  believed  do 
enter  into  that  rest ;  even  as  he  hath 
said,  As  I  sware  in  my  wrath,  they 
shall  not  enter  into  my  rest :  although 
the  works  were  finished  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world. 


Joshua  did  not  bring  the  People 
into  the  Rest  of  God. 

4  For  he  hath  said  somewhere  of  the 
seventh  thti/  on  this  wise,  And  God  rested 
on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  works  ; 

5  And  in  this  2)lace  again.  They 
shall  not  enter  into  my  re.st. 

6  Seeing  therefore  it  remaineth  that 
some  .should  enter  thereinto,  and  they 
to  whom  the  good  tidings  were  before 
jireached  failed  to  enter  in  because  of 
disobedience, 

7  He  again  defineth  a  certain  day, 
saying  in  Pavid,  after  .so  long  a  time, 
To-day,  as  it  liath  l)een  before  said, 
To-day  if  ye  sliall  hear  his  voice, 
Harden  not  vour  hearts. 


ICbe  IboUCiSt  of  au 


The   Second  Warning— con t/Vjue^/. 


8  For  if  Joshua  liad  given  tliein  I'est, 
he  woukl  not  liave  si)oken  aftcrwaril 
of  another  day. 

9  There  reniainetli  therefore  a  Sab- 
bath rest  for  the  people  of  God. 

Let  us  enter  into  the  Best. 

10  P^or  lie  that  is  entered  into  his 
rest  hath  himself  also  rested  from  his 
works,  as  God  did  from  his. 

11  Let  ns  therefore  give  diligence  to 
(.•nter  into  that  rest,  that  no  man  fall 
after  the  same  example  of  disobedi- 
ence. 


The  Power  of  God's  Word  to 
judge  us. 

12  For  the  word  of  God"  is  living,  and 
active,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing 
of  soul  and  spirit,  of  both  joints  and 
marrow,  and  quick  to  discern  the 
thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart. 

13  And  there  is  no  creature  that  is 
not  manifest  in  his  sight :  but  all 
things  are  naked  and  laid  open  liefore 
the  eyes  of  him  with  whom  we  have 
to  do. 


«  Ch.  2.  -J : 
3.  18,  19;  4. 
11;  5.11;  G. 
5,  6  ;  11.  20. 
28,  38,  39  ; 
12.  25 


FOURTH    SECTION— iv.   14-v.   10. 
Jesus  our  High  Priest  more  than  Aaron. 


Jesus  the  great  and  sympathising 
High  Priest. 

14  Having  then  a  great  high  priest, 
who  hath  passed  through  the  heavens, 
Jesus  the  Sou  of  God,  let  us  hold  fast 
our.cQnfggs,ion. 

For   we   have  not  a  high   priest 


that  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling 
of  our  infirmities  ;  but  one  that  hath 
been  in  all  jjoints  tempted  like  as  we 
are,  yet  without  sin. 

16  Let  us  therefore  draw  near  with 
boldness  unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that 
we  may  receive  mercy,  and  may  find 
grace  to  help  ns  in  time  of  need. 


CHAPTER    V. 


F 


A  High  Priest  must  have 
Compassion. 

ORevery  high  priest,  being  taken  from 
among  men,  is  appointed  for  men 
in  things  pertaining  to  God,  that  he  may 
offer*  botli  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sins  : 

'2  Who  can  bear  gently  witli  the 
ignorant  and  erring,  for  that  he  himself 
also  is  compassed  with  infirmity  ; 

o  And  by  reason  thereof  is  bound, 
as  for  the  people,  so  also  for  himself,  to 
ofter  for  sins. 

A  High  Priest  must  be  appointed 
of  God. 

4  And  no  man  taketh  the  honour 
unto  himself,  but  when  he  is  called  of 
God,  even  as  was  Aaron. 

5  So  Christ  also  glorified  not  himself 
to  be  made  a  higli  priest,  but  he  that 


spake  unto   him.   Thou  art    my   Son, 
This  day  have  I  begotten  thee  : 

6  As  "he  saith  also  in  another  ^jZ«cp, 
Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the 
order  of  Melchizedek. 

Jesus  our  High  Priest  perfected 
through  Obedience. 

7  Who  in  the  days  of  his  fiesh,  hav- 
ing offered  up  ))rayers  and  supplications 
with  strong  crying  and  tears  unto  him 
that  was  able  to  save  him  from  death, 
and  having  been  heard  for  his  godly  fear, 

8  Thongli  he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned 
obedience  by  the  things  which  he 
sutt'ered  ; 

9  Anil  having  been  made  perfect,  he 
became  unto  all  them  that  obey  him 
the  author  of  eternal  salvation  ; 

10  Named  of  God  a  high  priest  after 
the  oi"der  of  Melchizedek. 


Zbc  -fcoliest  of  BU 


THE    THIRD   WARNING. 

Chap.  V.  11-vi.  20. 
Against  Sloth  and  Apostasy. 


The  Difference  between  the  Sloth- 
ful and  the  Perfect. 

11  or  wiioiii  \V(.'  Ijave  iiuiuy  tilings  to 
say,  aud  hard  of  iuteiprt'tatiou,  sei-ing 
ye  are  beconu'  dull  of  liearinfr." 

12  For  wlieii  l)y  reuson  of  the  time 
ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need 
again  that  some  one  teacli  you  the 
rudiments  of  the  first  principles  of  tlie 


oracles  of  CJod  ;  and  are  become  such 
as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not  of  solid 
food. 

13  For  every  one  that  partaketh  of 
milk  is  without  experience  of  the  word 
of  righteousness  ;  for  he  is  a  babe. 

14  But  solid  food  is  for  full-grown* 
men,  etrn  those  who  by  reason  of  use 
have  their  senses  exercised  to  discuru 
good  and  evil. 


CHAPTER    VL 


The  Need  of  pressing  on  to 
Perfection. 

WHEKEFOHE  let  us  cease  to  speak 
of  the  tirst  principles'"  of  Christ, 
and  press  on  unto  i)erfection  ;  not  laying 
again  a  foundation  of  repentance  from 
dead  works, "^  and  of  faith  toward  God, 

2  Of  the  teaching  of  bai)tisiiis,  and  of 
laying  on  of  hands,  and  of  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  and  of  eternal  judgment. 

3  Andtliis  will  we  do,  if  (}od  j^erinit. 

No  Hope  for  the  Apostate. 

4  For  as  toucliiiig  those  who  were 
once  enliglitened  and  tasted  of  tlie 
heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  ]iartakers 
of  the  Holy  (Jliost, 

ft  And  tasted  the  good  word  of  Goil, 
and  tlie  powers  of  the  age  to  come, 

6  And  f/irn  fell  away,  it  is  impossible 
to  renew  them  again  unto  rejieiitance  ; 
seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the 
Sou  of  God  afresh,  and  put  liini  to  an 
open  shame.' 

7  For  the  land  whicli  hath  drunk  the 
rain  tliat  cometli  oft  upon  it,  ami 
bringeth  forth  herbs  meet  for  tliem  for 
whose  sake  it  is  also  tilled,  receiveth 
blessing  from  (iod  : 


8  But  if  it  beareth  thorns  aud  thistles, 
it  is  rejected  and  nigh  unto  a  curse ; 
whose  end  is  to  be  burned. 


Encouragement  to  Perseverance. 

9  But,  beloved,  we  are  }>ersuaded 
better  things  of  you,  and  things  that 
accompany  salvation,  though  we  thus 
speak : 

10  For  God  is  not  unrighteous  to 
forget  your  work  and  the  love  which 
ye  showed  toward  his  name,  in  that  ye 
ministered  unto  the  saints,  and  .still  do 
minister. 

11  And  we  desire  that  each^one  of 
you  may  shew  the  sanny  ilifigencd^  unto 
the  fulness/  of  liope  even  toCEe'end : 

12  That  ye  be  Hot  sIuggTsTT)  but 
imitators  of  them  who  through  faith 
aud  jiatience  inherit  the  jiroiiiises-f 

Our  Hope  in  the  Faithfulness 
of  God. 

13  For  when  God  made  promise  to 
Abraham,  since  he  could  swear  by  none 
greater,  he  sware  by  himself, 

14  Saying,  Surely  blessing  I  will 
bless  thee,  and  multiplying  I  will 
multiply  thee. 


tTbe  tbollest  of  ail 


a     Ch.    11. 
13,  33,  39. 

*Ch.  3. 11; 
7.21. 


The   Third  Warning— cont//?ue<y. 


15  And  thus,  having  patiently  en- 
dured, he  obtained  the  pi'oniise." 

16  For  men  swear*  by  the  greater: 
and  in  every  dispute  of  theirs  the  oath 
is  final  for  confirmation. 

17  Wherein  God,  being  minded  to 
shew  more  abundantly  unto  the  heirs 
of  the  promise  the  immutability  of  his 
counsel,  interposed  with  an  oath  : 

18  That  by  two  immutable  things, 
in   which  it  is  imjiossible  for  God  to 


lie,  we  may  have  a  strong  encourage- 
ment, who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay 
hold  of  the  hope  set  before  us  ; 

19  Which  we  have  as  an  anchor  of 
the  soul,  a  hope  both  sure  and  stedfast 
and  entering  into  that  which  is  within 
the  veil ; 

20  Whither  as  a  fore-runner  Jesus 
entereil  for  us,  having  become  a  high 
priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chizedek. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

FIFTH    SECTION. 

The  New  Priesthood  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 


MelcMzedek  made  Uke  to  the 
Son  of  God. 

"POR  this  Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem, 
priest  of  God  Most  High,  who  met 
Abraham  returning  from  the  slaughter 
of  the  kings,  and  blessed  him, 

2  To  whom  also  Abraham  divided  a 
tenth  part  ofall(  being  first,by  interpreta- 
tion, King  of  righteousness,  and  then  also 
King  of  Salem,  which  is.  King  of  peace  ; 

3  Without  father,  without  mother, 
without  genealogy,  having  neither  be- 
ginning of  days  nor  end  of  life,  but 
made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God),  abideth 
a  priest  continually. 

Melcbizedek  more  than  Abraham. 

4  Now  consider  how  great  this  man 
was,  unto  whom  Abraham,  thepatriarch, 
gave  a  tenth  out  of  the  chief  spoils. 

5  And  they  indeed  of  the  sons  of  Levi 
that  receive  the  priest's  ofiice  have  com- 
mandment to  take  tithes  of  the  people 
according  to  the  law,  that  is,  of  their 
brethren,  though  these  have  come  out 
of  the  loins  of  Abraham  : 

6  But  he  whose  genealogy  is  not 
counted  from  them  hath  taken  tithes  of 
Abraham,  and  hath  blessed  him  that 
hath  the  promises. 

7  But  without  any  dispute  the  less  is 
blessed  of  the  better. 


Melchizedek  more  than  Levi. 

8  And  here  men  that  die  receive 
tithes  ;  but  there  one,  of  whom  it  is 
witnessed  that  he  liveth. 

9  And,  so  to  say,  through  Abraham 
even  Levi,  who  receiveth  tithes,  hath 
paid  tithes ; 

10  For  he  was  yet  in  the  loins 
of  his  father,  when  Melchizedek  met 
him. 

The  New  Priesthood  sets  aside 
the  order  of  Aaron. 

11  Now  if  there  was  perfection 
through  the  Levitical  priesthood  (for 
under  it  hath  the  people  received  the 
law),  what  further  need  teas  there  that 
another  priest  should  arise  after  the 
order  of  Melchizedek,  and  not  be 
reckoned  after  the  order  of  Aaron  ? 

12  For  the  priesthood  being  changed, 
there  is  made  of  necessity  a  change  also 
of  the  law. 

13  For  he  of  whom  these  things  are 
said  belongeth  to  another  tribe,  from 
which  no  man  hath  given  attendance  at 
the  altar. 

14  For  it  is  evident  that  our  Lord 
hath  sprung  out  of  Judah  ;  as  to  which 
tribe  Moses  spake  nothing  concerning 
priests. 


Zbe  Dolicst  of  BU 


■'Ch 
10.9; 

"Ch. 
7.  25 ; 
14;  10. 
12.  22. 


.  8. 13; 
12.18 


4.10; 
9.    3, 

1, 19; 


The  New  Priestliood  after  the 
power  of  the  Endless  Life. 

15  Aud  ichal  wc  say  is  yet  more  abiiiid- 
autly  evident,  if  after  the  likeness  of 
Melchizedek  tliereariseth  auother  priest, 

16  Wlio  hath  heeii  made,  not  after 
the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  but 
after  tlie  power  of  an  endless  life  : 

17  For  it  is  witues-sed  of  him,  Tliou 
art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of 
Melcliizedek. 

18  For  there  i.s  a  disannulling  of  a 
foregoing  commandment  because  of  its 
weakness  and  unprofitableness.'' 

19  (For  the  law  made  nothing  per- 
fect), and  a  bringing  in  thereupon  of  a 
better  hope,  througli  which  we  draw 
nigh  unto  God.* 

The  New  Priesthood  appointed 
by  the  oath  of  God. 

20  And  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  witliout 
the  taking  of  an  oath. 

21  (For  they  indeed  have  been  made 
priests  without  an  oath  ;  but  he  with 
an  oath  liy  him  that  saith  of  him,  The 
Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent  himself. 
Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever) ; 

22  By  .so  much  also  hath  Jesus  become 
the  surety  of  a  better  co/enant. 


<■  Ch  1.  8; 
.0.  6,  9 ;  (i.  20 ; 
7.  17,  21,  24, 
25,  28  ;  9.  12. 
14,    10;    10. 


As  an  Eternal  Priesthood  it  brings 
a  complete  Salvation. 

23  And  they  indeed  have  been  made 
priests  many  in  number,  because  that 
by  death  they  are  hindered  from  con- 
tinuing : 

24  But  lie,  because  he  abideth  for  ever, 
hath  his  priesthood  unchangeable. <■ 

25  Wherefore  also  he  is  able  to  save  14'    15  '.    jg' 
to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw  near  s.  '21. 
unto  God  through  him,  seeing  he  ever 

liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 

Our  High  Priest  the  Son  per- 
fected for  ever. 

26  For  such  a  high  priest  became  us, 
holj-,  guileless,  undetiled,  seiiarated 
from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the 
heavens ; 

27  Who  needeth  not  daily,  like  those 
high  priests,  to  oflfer  up  sacrifices,  first 
for  his  own  sins,  and  then  for  the 
sins  of  the   people :    for   this   he   did 

once''    for    all,    when    he -offered    u]i      "'Ch. 0. 12 
himself.  26,    28 ;    lo! 

28  For  the  law  appoiuteth  men  high  10>  1-',  14. 
priests,  having  infirmity  ;  but  the  word 

of  the  oath,  which  was  after  the  law, 
ap2)ointeth  a  Son,  perfected  for  ever- 
more. 


CHAPTEK    VIII. 

SIXTH    SECTION.-viii.   1-13. 

The  New  Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant. 


<•  Ch.  I 
.  »;  4. 
.  20  ;  7. 
r,,  2G  ;  8. 

.  n,  2S, 

9.  12  ;  11 
2,  24,  25 


The  High  Priest  on  the  Throne. 

^OW  in  the  things  wliiuh  we  are  saying 
the  chief  point  is  this :  We  have 
such  a  high  priest,  who  sat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty 
in  the  heavens,' 

A  Minister  of  tbe  True  Sanctuary. 

2  A  minister  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of 
the  true  tabernacle,  wjiich  the  Lord 
pitched,  not  man, 

3  For  every  high  priest  is  ap- 
pointed to   offer  lK)th  gifts  and  sacri- 


fices :  wlierefore  it  is  neces,sary  that 
this  hi<ih  priest  also  have  somewhat 
to  offer. 

4  Xow  if  he  were  on  earth,  he 
would  not  ))e  a  priest  at  all,  .seeing 
there  are  those  who  offer  the  gift-s 
accortling  to  the  law  ; 

5  Who  serve  that  which  is  a,  cojiy  and 
shadow  of  the  heavenlv  things,  eveu  a-s 
Moses  is  warned  of  (jod  when  he  is 
about  to  make  the  tabernacle  :  for.  See, 
saith  he,  that  thou  make  all  things 
according  to  the  i«ttern  tliat  w;us  shewed 
thee  in  tlie  mount. 


Zbc  Ifjoliest  of  mi 


The  Mediator  of  the  New 
Covenant. 

6  But  now  hath  he  obtained  a  niiuistrj- 
the  more  excellent,  by  how  much  also 
he  is  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant, 
which  hath  lieen  enacted  upon  better 
promises. 

7  For  if  that  first  covenant  had  been 
faiiltless,  then  would  no  place  have 
been  .sought  for  a  .second. 

8  For  finding  fault  with  them,  he 
saith,  Behold,  the  daj's  come,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  laew  covenant 
with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with  the 
house  of  Judah  ; 

9  Not  accordiug  to  the  covenant  that 
I  made  Avith  their  fathers  in  the  day 
that  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead 
them  fortli  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ; 
for  they  continued  not  in  my  covenant, 
and  1  regarded  them  not,  saith  the  Lord. 


The  Blessings  of  the  New 
Covenant. 

10  For  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will 
make  with  the  hou.se  of  Israel  after 
those  days,  saith  the  Lord  ;  I  will  put 
my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  on  their 

heart"  also  will  I  write  them :  and  I  will  "  Ch.  3.  S, 
be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  1^,^  1| ;  10. 
me  a  people  :  "    '      •  ^' 

11  And  they  shall  not  teach  every 
man  his  fellow-citizen,  and  every  man 
his  brother,  saying.  Know  the  Lord : 
for  all  shall  know  me,  from  the  least  to 
the  greatest  of  them. 

12  For  I  will  be  merciful  to  their 
iniquities,  and  their  sins  will  I  remem- 
ber no  more. 

13  In  that  he  saith,  A  new  covenant, 
he  hath  made  the  lirst  old.  But  that 
which  is  becoming  old  and  waxeth  aged 
is  nigh  unto  vanishing  away. 


CHAPTEK    IX. 
SEVENTH    SECTION.-ix.   1-28. 

The  Power  of  Jesus's  Blood  to  inaugurate  the  New 
Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant. 


The  Holy  Place  and  the  Most 
Holy. 


|»^0W 


W  even  the  tirst  covenant  bad  ordi- 
nances of  divine  service,  and   its 
sanctuary,  a  sanctuary  of  this  world. 

2  For  there  was  a  taVieruacle  prepared, 
the  first,  wherein  ivere  the  candlestick, 
and  the  table,  and  the  shew -bread  ; 
which  is  called  the  Holy  place. 

3  And  after  the  second  veil,  the 
tabernacle  which  is  called  the  Holy  of 
holies ; 

4  Having  a  golden  cen.ser,  and  the 
ark  of  thy  covenant  overlaid  round 
about  with  gold,  wherein  was  a  golden 
pot  holding  the  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod 
that  budded,  and  the  tables  of  the 
covenant ; 

')  And  above  it  cherubim  of  glory 
o\er>>hadowing  the  mercy  -  seat  ;  of 
which  things  we  cannot  now  speak 
severallv. 


The  Way  into  the  Holiest  not 
yet  opened. 

6  Now  these  things  having  been  thus 
jirepai-ed,  the  priests  go  in  continually 
into  the  tirst  tabernacle,  accomplishing 
the  services : 

7  But  into  the  second  the  high  priest 
alone,  once  in  the  year,  not  without 
blood,  which  lie  oflereth  for  himself, 
and  for  the  errors  of  the  people  : 

8  The  Holy  Ghost  this  signifying, 
that  the  way,  into  the  holy  place*  hath 
not  yet  been  made  manifest,  while  as 
the  first  tabernacle  is  yet  standing  ; 

9  Wliich  is  a  parable  lor  the  time 
lUiw  present ;  according  to  which  are 
offered  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  that 
cannot,  as  touching  the  conscience, 
make  the  worshipjier  perlect, 

10  Being  only  (-with  meats  and  drinks 
and  divers  washings)  carnal  ordinances, 
impo.sed  until  a  time  of  reformation. 


*  Ch.  9. 12, 
24 ;  10.  IP, 
22  ;  12.  22. 


10 


;rbe  IboUcdt  of  mi 


"Ch.0. 14, 


Christ,  througli  His  own  Blood, 
openeth  the  Holiest. 

11  But  (.'ln•i^t  liaviiig  eoiiie   a   liigli 

priest    of   tlu^    good    things   to   come, 

througli  the  greater  and  more  perfect 

"o"^"o'"l9'  talx-rnacle,  not  made  with  hiuids,  tliat 

23  '  20  •'    ll!  '■''  ^^  ^^Yi  nf't  of  tliis  ereatioii, 

•28';    12.'  24;       1-  Xor  yet  tlirough  the  Mooil  of  goats 

13.  12,  20.       and  calves,  hut  througli  hi.s  own  Idood," 

entered  iu  once  for  all  into  the  holy  place, 

h.aving  obtained  eternal  redemption. 

Tbe  Blood  cleansing  our 
Conscience. 

K>  For  if  the  Mnod  of  goats  ami  bulls, 
and  the  a.shes  of  a  heifer  .sprinkling 
them  that  have  been  defiled,  sanctify 
unto  the  cleanness  of  the  tlesh  : 

14  How  much  more  shall  the  blood 
of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal 
Spirit,  ottered  himself  without  lileniish 
unto  God,  cleanse  your  conscience  from 
dead  works  to  serve  the  living  Ood  .- 

The  Death  of  the  Mediator  of 
the  New  Covenant. 

15  And  for  this  cause  he  is  the 
mediator  of  r>  new  covenant,  that  a 
death  having  taken  j)lace  for  the  re- 
demption of  tlie  trau.sgression.s  that  were 
under  the  first  covenant,  they  th.tt  have 
been  called  may  receive  the  promise  of 
tlie  eternal  inheritance. 

16  For  where  a  testament  is,  there 
must  of  necessity  be  the  death  of  him 
that  made  it. 

17  For  a  testament  is  of  force  where 
there  liath  been  death  :  for  doth  it  ever 
avail  while  he  that  made  it  liveth  ? 

The  Old  Covenant  dedicated 
with  Blood. 

18  Wherefore  even  the  first  cwenant 
hath  not  been  dedicated  without  blood. 

19  For  when  every  commandment 
had  been  spoken  by  Mose.s  unto  all  the 


jieople  according  to  the  law,  he  took  the 
blood  of  the  calves  and  tlie  goats,  with 
w.ater  and  scarlet  wool  and  hys.sop, 
and  sprinkled  both  tlii-  book  itself,  and 
all  the  people, 

20  Saying,  This  is  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  which  God  conimande<I  to  yon- 
wan  1. 

21  Moreover  the  tabernacle  and  all 
the  vessels  of  the  ministry  he  sjunnkled 
in  like  manner  with  the  f)lood. 

22  And  according  to  the  law,  I  may 
almost  say,  all  things  an-  cleansed  with 
blood,  and  a]>art  from  sheilding  of  blood 
there  is  no  remission. 

The  better  Sacrifice  has  opened 
Heaven  itself. 

23  It  was  necessary  therefore  that 
the  copies  of  the  things  in  the  heavens 
should  be  cleansed  with  these  ;  but  the 
heawuly  things  themselves  with  better 
sacrifices  than  these. 

24  For  Christ  entered  not  into  a  holy 
place  made  with  hands,  lifte  in  pattern 
to  the  true ;  but  into  heaven  itself, 
now  to  appear  before  the  face  of 
God  for  us : 

Christ  once  offered  to  put 
away  Sin. 

25  Nor  yet  that  he  should  otter  him- 
self often  ;  as  the  high  priest  entereth 
into  tlie  holy  place  year  by  year  with 
blood  not  his  own  ; 

26  Else  must  he  often  have  sutTered 
since  the  foundation  of  the  world  r  but 
now  once  at  the  end  of  the  ages  liatli  lie 
been  manifested  to  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself. 

27  And  inasmucli  as  it  is  ap]K>int«d 
unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  thi.s 
CO j;(<'M  judgment ; 

28  So  Christ  also,  having  been  once 
offered  to  bear  the  sin.s  of  many,  shall 
appear  a  .second  time  apart  from  sin, 
to  them  that  wait  for  hini,  unto  salva- 
tion. 


Zbe  IboUest  of  ail 


11 


CHAPTEK    X. 


EIGHTH    SECTION.-x.   1-18. 
The  Infinite  Value  of  Christ's  Sacrifice. 


The  Law  only  a  Shadow  of  good 
things  to  come. 

■pOR  the  law  having  a  shadow  of  the 
good  things  to  come,  not  the  very 
image  of  the  things,  they  can  never  with 
the  same  sacrifices  year  by  year,  which 
they  offer  continually,  make  perfect 
them  that  draw  nigh. 

2  Else  would  they  not  have  ceased  to 
be  offered,  because  the  worshippers, 
having  been  once  cleansed,  would  have 
had  no  more  conscience  of  sins  ? 

3  But  in  those  sacrifices  there  is  a 
remembrance  made  of  sins  year  by 
year. 

4  For  it  is  impossible  that  the  blood 
of  bulls  and  goats  should  take  away  sins. 

The  doing  of  God's  will,  the  value 
of  Christ's  Sacrifice. 

5  Wherefore  when  he  cometh  into  the 
world,  he  saith,  Sacrifice  and  offering 
thou  wouldest  not,  but  a  body  didst 
thou  prepare  for  me  ; 

6  In  whole  burnt  offerings  and  sacri- 
fices for  sin  thou  hadst  no  pleasure : 

7  Then  said  I,  Lo,  I  am  come  (in  the 
roll  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me)  To 
do  thy  will,  O  God. 

8  Saying  above,  Sacrifices  and  offer- 
ings and  whole  burnt  offerings  and 
sacrifices  for  sin  thou  wouldest  not, 
neither    hadst    pleasure    therein    (the 


which    are    ofi'ered    according    to    the 
law), 

9  Then  hatli  he  said,  Lo,  I  am  come 
to  do  thy  will.  He  taketh  away  the 
first,  that  he  may  establish  the  second. 

10  By  which  will  we  have  been  sanc- 
tified through  the  oftering  of  the  body 
of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all. 

The  one  Sacrifice  perfects 
for  ever. 

11  And  every  priest  indeed  standeth 
day  by  day  ministering  and  offering 
oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices,  the  which 
can  never  take  away  sins  : 

12  But  he,  wheu  he  had  offered  one 
sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever,  sat  down  on 
the  right  hand  of  God  ; 

13  From  henceforth  expecting  till  his 
enemies  be  made  the  footstool  of  his 
feet. 

14  For  by  one  offering  he  hath  per- 
fected for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified. 

15  And  the  Holy  Ghost  also  beareth 
witness  to  us  :  for  after  he  hath  said, 

16  This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will 
make  with  them  after  those  days,  saith 
the  Lord  ;  I  will  put  my  laws  on  their 
heart,  and  upon  their  mind  also  will  I 
write  them  ;  then  saith  he, 

17  And  their  sins  and  their  iniquities 
will  I  remember  no  more. 

18  Now  where  remission  of  these  is, 
there  is  no  more  offering  for  sin. 


12 


Jibe  tboliest  ot  mi 


SECOND    HALF-PRACTICAL.- 
Chap.  X.  19-xiii.  25. 

Of  a  Life  in  the  Power  of  the  Great  Salvation. 


NINTH    SECTION-x.    19-25. 
The  New  Worship. 


Of  entering  the  Holiest. 

19  Having  tlieretbre,  brt'thren,  bold- 
ness to  enter  into  the  holy  place  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus, 

20  By    the    way    which    he    dedi- 
''Ch.2. 10;     cated  for  us,   a  new  and  living  way," 

0.20;  10.10;     through   the  veil,    that   is  to  say,  "his 
12.  1 ;  13. 13.      iiesh  ; 

'iJl  And  having  a  great  priest  over  the 
house  of  God  ; 

22  Let  us  draw  near  with  a  true 
heart  in  fulness  of  faith,  having  our 
hearts    sprinkled    from    an    evil    con- 


science,   and   our    body   washed    with 
pure  water : 

Of  our  Life  in  the  Holiest. 

23  Let  us  hold  fa.st  the  confession  of 
our  hope  that  it  waver  not ;  for  he  is 
faithful  that  promised : 

2-1  And  let  us  consider  one  another  to 
provoke  unto  love  and  good  works  ; 

25  Not  forsaking  the-;issemliling  of 
ourselves  together,  as  the  custom  of 
some  is,  but  exhorting  o)ie  another; 
and  so  much  the  more,  as  ye  see  the 
day  drawing  nigh. 


THE    FOURTH   WARNING. 

Chap.  z.  26-39. 

Against  sinning  wilfully  and  drawing  back. 


The  terrible  Danger  of  sinning 
wilfully. 

26  For  if  we  sin  wilfully  after  that 
we  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  a  sacri- 
fice for  sins, 

27  But  a  certain  fearful  expectation 
of  judgement,  and  a  lierceness  of  lii-e 
which  shall  devour  tlie  adversaries. 

28  A  man  tliat  hath  set  at  nought 
Moses'  law  dietli  without  compas- 
sion on  the  word  of  two  or  three 
witnesses  : 

29  Of  how  much  sorer  |>unishment, 
think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy, 
who  hath  troildeu  under  fool  the 
Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the 
blood  of  the  covenant,  wluTewith  he 
was  sanctified,  an   uidioly  thing,   and 


hath    done   despite   unto   the  Spirit  of 
grace  1 

30  For  we  know  him  that  said,  Ven- 
geance belongeth  unto  me,  I  will  recom- 
pense. And  again.  The  Lord  shall  judge 
his  people. 

31  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God. 

Exhortation  to  Boldness  and 
Patience. 

32  But  call  to  remembrance  the  ftu-merl  i^^ 
days,  in  which,  alter  ye  were  enliglit-f 
eued,   ye   endured  a  great   contiict   oil 
sufferings  ;  ' 

3;}  Tartly,  being  made  a  gazingstock 
both  by  reproaches  and  afflictions  ;  and 
I)artly,  becoming  partakers  with  them 
that  were  so  used. 


Zbc  iboliest  of  BU 


13 


The  Fourth  VJ'di.rmng— continued. 


34  For  j'e  both  had  compassion  on 
them  that  were  in  bonds,  and  took  joy- 
fully the  spoiliug  of  your  possessions, 
knowing  that  ye  yourselves  have  a 
better  possession  and  an  abiding  one. 

35  Cast  not  away  therefore  your 
boldness,  which  hath  great  recompense 
of  reward. 

36  For  ye  have  need  of  patience,  that, 
having  done  the  will  of  God,  ye  may 
receive  the  promise.'- 


Exhortation  to  believe  and  not 
draw  back. 

37  For  yet  a  very  little  while,  he  that 
cometh  shall  come,  and  shall  not  tarry. 

3S  But  my  righteous  one  shall  live  by 
faith  :  and  if  he  shrink  back,  my  soul 
hath  no  jileasure  in  him. 

39  But  we  are  not  of  them  that  shrink 
back  unto  perdition  ;  but  of  tiiem  that 
have  faith  unto  the  saving  of  the  soul. 


CHAPTER    XL 


TENTH    SECTION.-xi.   1-40. 
The   Fulness   of  Faith. 


Faith,  the  Eye  of  the  Unseen. 

"^OW  faith  is  the  assurance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  proving  of  things  not 
seen. 

2  For  therein  the  elders  had  witness 
borne  to  them.* 

3  By  faith  we  understand  that  the 
worlds  have  been  framed  by  the  word  of 
God,  so  that  what  is  seen  hath  not  been 
made  out  of  things  which  do  appear. 

Of  Faith  before  the  Deluge. 

4  By  fixith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a 
more  excellent  sacrifice  tlian  Cain, 
through  Yv'hich  he  had  witness  borne 
to  him  that  he  was  righteous,  God 
bearing  witness  in  respect  of  his  gifts  : 
and  through  it  he  being  dead  yet 
speaketh. 

5  By  faith  Enoch  was  translated  that 
he  should  not  see  death  ;  and  he  was 
not  found,  liecause  God  trauslateil  him  : 
for  before  his  translation  he  hath  had 
witness  borne  to  him  that  he  had  been 
well-pleasing  unto  God. 

6  And  without  faith  it  is  impos.sible 
to  be  well-pleasing  unto  him :  for  he 
that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that 
he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them 
that  seek  after  him. 

7  By  faith  Noah,  being  warned  of 


God  concerning  things  not  seen  as  yet, 
moved  with  godly  fear,  prepared  an 
ark  to  the  saving  of  his  house  ;  tli rough 
which  he  condemned  the  world,  and 
became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which 
is  according  to  faith. 

Abraham  and  Sarah. 

8  By  faith  Abraham,  when  he  was 
called,  oljeyed  to  go  out  unto  a  place 
which  he  was  to  receive  for  an  in- 
heritance ;  and  he  went  out,  not  know- 
ing whither  he  went. 

9  By  faith  he  became  a  sojourner  in 
the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a  land  not  his 
own,  dwelling  in  tents,  with  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  the  heirs  Avith  him  of  the  same 
promise : 

10  For  he  looked  for  the  city  which 
hath  the  foundations,  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God, 

11  By  faith  even  Sarah  herself  re- 
ceived power  to  conceive  seed  when  she 
was  past  age,  since  slie  counted  him 
faithful  who  had  promised. 

12  Wherefore  also  there  sprang  of 
one,  and  him  as  good  as  dead,  so  many 
as  the  stars  of  heaven  in  multitude,  and 
as  the  sand,  which  is  by  the  sea  shore, 
innumerable. 

13  These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having 
received  the  promises,  but  having  seen 


14 


Zbe  -boUcst  ot  Bll 


them  and  greettd  them  frinn  afar,  nnd 
having  confessed  tliat  they  were  stran- 
gers and  pilpriins  on  the  earth. 

14  For  they  that  say  such  things 
make  it  manifest  that  tliey  are  seeking 
after  a  country  of  their  own. 

15  And  if  indeed  they  had  been 
min<lful  of  that  country  from  whicli 
they  went  out,  they  would  have  had 
opportunity  to  return. 

16  J5nt  now  they  desire  a  liettcr 
country,  that  is,  a  heavenly:  where- 
fore God  is  not  ashamed  of  them,  to  be 
called  their  God  :  for  he  hath  i)repared 
for  them  a  city. 

17  By  faith  AV)raham,  being  tried, 
offered  up  Isaac  :  yea,  he  that  had 
gladly  received  the  promises  was  offer- 
ing np  his  only  begotten  son  ; 

18  Even  he  to  whom  it  was  said.  In 
I.saac  shall  thy  seed  be  called  : 

19  Accounting  that  God  is  able  to 
raise  up, even  from  the  dead ;  from  whence 
he  did  also  in  a  parable  receive  him  back. 

Isaac,  Jacob,  and  Joseph. 

20  By  faith  Isaac  blessed  Jacob  and 
Esau,  even  concerning  things  to  come. 

21  By  faith  Jacob,  when  he  was 
a  dying,  blessed  each  of  the  .sons  of 
Joseph  ;  .and  worshijiped,  leaning  upon 
the  top  of  his  staff. 

22  By  faith  Joseph,  when  his  end  was 
nigh,  made  mention  of  the  departure  of 
the  children  of  Israel  ;  and  gave  com- 
mandment concerning  his  bones. 

Moses. 

23  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  born, 
was  hid  three  months  by  his  parents, 
because  they  saw  he  was  a  goodly  child  ; 
and  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  king's 
commandment. 

24  By  faith  Moses, .  when  he  was 
grown  up,  refused  to  be  called  the 
.son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter  ; 

25  Choosing  rather  to  be  evil  en- 
treate<l  with  the  people  of  God,  than 
to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season: 

26  Accounting  the  reproach  of  Christ 
greater  riches  than  the  tre.a.sures  of  Egypt: 
for  he  looked  unto  the  recompense  of 
reward. 

Of  the  Deliverance  of  Israel  by 
Faith. 

27  By  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  not 
fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king :  for  he 


endured,    as  seeing   him    wlio    is    in- 
visiVde. 

28  By  faith  he  kept  the  pa.ssover,and 
the  sprinkling  of  the  blood,  that  the  tle- 
stroyer  of  the  firstborn  .should  not 
touch  them. 

29  By  faith  they  passed  through  the 
Red  sea  a.s  by  dry  land :  which  the 
Egyptians  assajring  to  do  were  swal- 
loweil  up. 

30  By  faitli  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell 
down,  after  they  liad  been  compassed 
about  for  seven  days. 

31  By  faith  Raliab  the  harlot  perishetl 
not  with  them  that  were  disobedient, 
having  received  the  spies  with  peace. 

The  Wonders  Faith  has 
wrought. 

32  And  what  sliall  T  more  say  ?  for 
the  time  will  fail  me  if  I  tell  of  Gideon. 
Barak,  Samson,  Jephthah  ;  of  David 
and  Samuel  and  the  propliets. 

33  Who  through  faith  subdued  king- 
doms, wrought  righteousness,  obtained 
pronuse.s,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 

34  Quencheiithejiowerof  fire,  escaped 
the  edge  of  the  sword,  from  weakness 
were  made  strong,  waxed  mighty  in 
war,  turned  to  flight  armies  of  aliens. 

35  Women  received  their  dead  by  a 
resurrection  :  and  others  were  tortured, 
not  accepting  their  deliverance  ;  that 
they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection : 

The  Sxifferings  Faith  has 
endured. 

36  And  others  had  trial  of  moffkings 
and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover  of  bonds 
and  imprisonment: 

37  They  were  stoned,  tliey  were 
sawn  asunder,  they  were  tempted,  they 
were  slain  with  the  sword :  they  went 
about  in  .sheepskins,  in  goatskins  ; 
being  destitute,  afflicted,  evil  entreated. 

38  (Of  whom  the  world  wa,s  not 
wortliy),  w.andering  in  deserts  and 
mountains  and  caves,  and  tlie  holes 
of  the  earth. 

Some  better  thing  for  us. 

39  And  these  all,  having  had  witness 
borne  to  them  through  their  faith, 
received  not  the  promise, 

40  God  having  provided  some  better 
thing  concerning  us,  that  ajiart  from  us 
they  should  not  be  made  perfect. 


XLbe  Ibolfcst  of  Bll 


CHAPTEE    XII. 


ELEVENTH    SECTION.-xii.    1-13. 
The   Patience  of  Hope. 


Jesus,  the  Leader  in  the  Race. 

THEREFORE  let  us  also,  seeing  we 
are  compassed  about  with  so  great 
a  cloud  of  witnesses,  lay  aside  every 
weight,  and  tlie  sin  which  doth  so 
easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  rui.  with 
jiatieuce  the  race  "  that  is  set  before  us, 

2  Looking  unto  Jesus  the  author 
and  perfecter  of  our  faith,  who  for  the 
joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured 
the  cross,  despising  shame,  and  hath 
sat  down  at  tlie  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  God. 

o  For  consider  him  that  hath  en- 
dured such  gainsayiug  of  sinners  against 
themselves,  that  ye  wax  not  weary, 
fainting  in  your  souls. 

Trial  the  Portion  of  God's 
Children. 

4  Ye  have  not  yet  resisted  unto 
blood,  striving  against  sin : 

5  And  ye  have  forgotten  the  ex- 
hortation, which  reasoneth  with  you 
as  with  sons,  My  sou,  regard  not 
lightly  the  chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor 
faint  when  thou  art  reproved  of  him  ; 

6  For   whom    the    Lord    loveth  he 


chasteneth,    and  scourgeth  every    son 
whom  he  receivetli. 

7  It  is  for  chastening  that  ye  en- 
dure ;  God  dealeth  witli  you  as  with 
sons  ;  for  what  son  is  tliere  whom  his 
father  chasteneth  not  ? 

8  But  if  ye  are  without  chastening, 
Avhereof  all  have  been  made  partakers, 
then  are  ye  bastards,  and  not  sons. 

The  Blessing  of  Chastisement. 

9  Furthermore,  we  had  the  fathers 
of  our  liesh  to  chasten  us,  and  Ave 
gave  them  reverence :  shall  we  not 
much  rather  lie  in  subjection  unto  the 
Father  of  spirits,  and  live  ? 

10  For  tliey  verily  for  a  few  day.^ 
chastened  vs  as  seemed  good  to  them  ; 
but  he  for  unr  profit,  that  we  may  be 
partakers  of  his  holiness. 

11  All  chastening  seemeth  for  the 
present  to  be  not  joyous,  but  grievous  : 
yet  afterward  it  yieldeth  ]ieaeeable  fruit 
unto  tliemtliatluive  been  exercised  there- 
by, crev  Uic  fruit  of  righteousness. 

12  Wherefore  lift  u]i  tlie  hands  that 
hang  down,  and  the  palsied  knees  ; 

13  And  make  straight  paths  for  your 
feet,  that  that  which  is  lame  be  not  turned 
out  of  the  way,  but  rather  be  healed. 


THE   FIFTH   WARNING. 

Chap.  xii.  14-29. 

To  beware  of  Sin  and  rejection  of  Jesus. 


Of  falling-  short  of  the  Grace 
of  God. 

14  Follow  after  peace  with  all  men, 
and  the  sanctification  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  : 

15  Looking  carefully  lest  there  he 
any  man  that  ialleth  short  of  the  grace 
of  God ;    lest   any  root  of  bitterness 


springing  uji  troulde  you,  and  thereby 
the  many  be  defiled  ; 

16  Lest  there  he  any  fornicator,  or 
profane  person,  as  Esau,  who  for  one 
mess  of  meat  sold  his  own  birthright. 

17  For  ye  know  that  even  when  he 
afterward  desired  to  inherit  the  blessing, 
lie  was  rejected  (for  he  found  no  place 
of  repentance),  though  he  sought  it 
diligently  with  tears. 


16 


^be  tjouest  of  Bll 


The   Fifth   Warning— cow  t/'/jwerf. 


Ye  are  not  come  to  Mount 
Sinai. 

18  For  ye  are  not  come  mito  a  utount 
that  might  he  touched,  ami  that  bnnied 
with  tire,  and  unto  blackness,  aud  <lark- 
ness,  and  tempest, 

19  And  the  sound  of  a  trumjiet,  and 
the  voice  of  words  ;  which  coke  tliey 
that  heard  intreated  that  no  word 
more  shouhl  he  spoken  unto  them  : 

20  For  they  couhl  not  endure  that 
which  was  enjoined,  If  even  a  beast 
touch  the  mountain,  it  shall  be  stoned; 

21  And  so  fearful  was  the  appear- 
ance, Uuit  Moses  said,  I  exceedingly 
fear  ami  ijuake : 

Ye  are  come  to  Mount  Sion. 

22  i'Ut  ye  ale  Cdnie  unto  mount  Zion, 
and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God, 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  in- 
numerable hosts  of  angels, 

23  To  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  lirstboru  who  are  en- 
rolled in  heaven,  and  to  God  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect, 

24  And  to  Jesus  the  mediator  of  a 


new  covenant,  ;vnd  to  the  blood  of 
sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  than 
that  of  Abel. 

Let  us  fear  Him  who  is  a 
consuming  fire. 

2.')  See  that  ye  refuse  not  him  that 
speaketh.  For  if  they  escaped  not. 
when  they  refused  him  that  warned 
them  on  earth,  n)uch  more  shall  not  we 
escfi.pe.  who  turn  away  I  rum  him  that 
icarnelh  from  heaven  : 

26  Whose  voice  then  shook  the  earth  : 
but  now  he  hath  ])romised,  saying. 
Yet  once  more  will  I  make  to  tremble 
not  the  earth  only,  but  dsit  the 
hca\en. 

27  And  this  vmrd.  Yet  once  more, 
signitieth  the  removing  of  those  things 
that  are  shaken,  as  of  things  that 
have  been  made,  that  those  things 
which  are  not  .shaken  may.  remain. 

28  Wherefore,  receivim:  ;i  kingdom 
that  cannot  he  shaken,  let  us  have 
grace,  whereby  we  may  offer  sen'ice 
well-pleasing  to  God  with  reverence 
and  awe : 

29  For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire. 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

TWELFTH    SECTION.-xiii.   1-25. 

Love  and  Good  Works. 


Of  Love. 

T  ET  love  of  the  brethren  continue. 

2  Forget  not  to  show  love  unto 
strangers :  for  thereby  some  have 
entertained  angels  unawares. 

3  Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds, 
as  bound  with  them  :  them  that  are 
evil  entreated,  as  being  yourselves  also 
in  the  body. 

4  Let  marriage  6^  had  in  honour 
among  all,  and  let  the  bed  l>e  undefded : 


for  fornicators  and  adulterers  God  will 
judge. 

Of  Contentment. 

5  Be  ye.  free  fioi::  the  love  ofiii.Uhy  ; 
content  with  such  things  as  ye  have  : 
for  himself  hath  .said,  I  will  in  no  wise 
fail  thee,  neither  will  1  in  any  wi.se 
forsake  thee. 

6  So  that  with  good  courage  we  say. 
The  Lord  is  my  helper ;  I  will  not 
fear  :  What  shall  man  do  unto  me  ? 


trbe  Iboliest  of  ail 


17 


Jesus  always  the  same— our 
Comfort  and  Safety. 

7  Remember  them  that  had  the 
rule  over  you,  which  spake  unto  you 
the  word  of  God ;  and  considering 
the  issue  of  their  life,  imitate  their 
faith. 

8  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday 
and  to-day,  yea  and  for  ever. 

9  Be  not  carried  away  by  divers  and 
strange  teachings :  for  it  is  good  that 
the  heart  be  stablished  by  grace  ;  not 
by  meats,  wherein  they  that  occupied 
themselves  were  not  profited. 

Our  Fellowship  in  the  Sacrifice 
of  Jesus  without  the  Camp. 

10  We  have  an  altar,  whereof  they 
have  no  right  to  eat  which  serve  the 
tabernacle. 

11  For  the  bodies  of  those  beasts, 
whose  blood  is  brought  into  the  holy 
place  by  the  high  priest  as  an  offering 
for  sin,  are  burned  without  the  camp. 

12  Wherefore  Jesus  also,  that  he 
might  sanctify  the  people  through  his 
own  blood,  suffered  without  the  gate. 

13  Let  us  therefore  go  forth  unto 
him  without  the  camj),  bearing  his 
reproach. 

14  For  we  have  not  liere  an  abiding 
city,  but  we  seek  after  the  city  which 
is  to  come. 

Of  the  Saciifices  we  are  to 
bring. 

15  Through  him  then  let  us  oiler 
up  a  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God  con- 
tinually, that  is,  the  fruit  of  lips 
which  make  confession  to  his  name. 

16  But  to  do  good  and  to  communi- 


cate forget  not :  for  with  such  sacrifices 
God  is  well  pleased. 

Submission  to  our  Rulers  and 
Prayer  for  them. 

17  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule 
over  you,  and  submit  to  them :  for 
tliey  watch  in  behalf  of  your  souls,  as 
they  that  shall  give  account ;  tliat 
they  may  do  this  with  joy,  and  not 
with  grief:  for  this  were  unprofitable 
for  you. 

18  Pray  for  us:  for  we  are  per- 
suaded that  we  have  a  good  conscience, 
desiring  to  live  honestly  in  all  things. 

19  Anil  I  exhort  you  the  more  ex- 
ceedingly to  do  this,  that  I  may  be 
restored  to  you  the  sooner. 

The  Farewell  Prayer. 

20  Now  the  God  of  peace,  who 
brought  again  from  the  dead  the  great 
sheplierd  of  the  sheep  with  the  blood 
of  the  eternal  covenant, 

21  Even  our  Lord  Jesus,  make  you 
perfect  in  every  good  thing  to  do  his 
will,  working  in  us  that  which  is  well- 
pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus 
Christ ;  to  whom  be  the  glory  for  ever 
and  ever.     Amen. 

Last  Words. 

22  But  I  exhort  you,  brethren,  bear 
witli  the  word  of  exhortation :  for  I 
have  written  unto  you  in  few  words. 

23  Know  ye  that  our  brother  Timothy 
hath  been  set  at  liberty  ;  with  whom, 
if  he  come  shortly,  I  will  see  you. 

24  Salute  all  them  that  have  the 
rule  over  you,  and  all  the  saints. 
Tliey  of  Italy  salute  you. 

25  Grace  be  with  you  all.     Amen. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Ere  we  enter  upon  the  study  of  our  Epistle,  there  are  some 
questions  on  which  it  is  desirable  to  have  some  light.  It  is  well 
to  know  what  can  be  told  as  to  its  author,  the  Church  to  which 
it  was  addressed,  the  object  the  author  had  in  view,  and  the  plan 
he  adopts  to  attain  that  object.  The  reader  then  knows  some- 
thing of  what  he  is  to  expect,  and  has  a  point  of  view  suggested 
from  which  to  overlook  the  whole. 

I.  The  Author  of  the  Epistle. 

From  the  very  earliest  times  there  have  been  some  among 
the  Church  Fathers  who  maintained  that  the  Epistle  was  not 
written  by  Paul,  while  those  who  held  the  opposite  view  have 
admitted  that  they  had  no  decisive  evidence  to  offer  to  prove 
that  authorship.  All  admit  that  the  literary  style  is  not  that 
found  in  Paul's  writings.  And  some  say  that  the  substance  of 
the  teaching  differs  too,  and  that  the  great  truth  which  he  had 
been  set  apart  to  announce,  that  the  Gentiles  are  fellow-heirs, 
and  of  the  same  body,  is  entirely  wanting.     The  Epistle  speaks 


20  Jibc  Doliest  of  ail 

as  if  salvation  was  for  the  Jew  only :  it  is  absolutely  silent  as  to 
the  existence  of  a  heathen  or  Christian  world  outside  the  Church 
it  addresses. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Epistle  contains 
so  much  of  what  had  been  specially  revealed  to  Paul  more  than 
to  others  concerning  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  in  Christ  and  its 
passing  away,  concerning  the  glory  of  Christ  seated  on  the 
throne  of  heaven  and  the  alone  power  of  faith,  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  not  to  recognise  his  spirit  in  its  teaching.  What 
adds  special  weight  to  this  view  is  that,  while  from  the  style  it 
is  certain  that  it  cannot  be  the  work  of  any  other  of  our  Bible 
writers,  it  appears  strange  that  the  history  of  the  Church  does 
not  even  mention  the  name  of  a  man  who  had  been  favoured 
with  such  special  revelations  from  God  as  the  Epistle  bears 
witness  to. 

The  difficulty  has  led  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  supposi- 
ti(jn  that  Paul  cither  wrote  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  in  their 
tongue,  and  that  we  only  have  it  in  the  Greek  translation,  or 
that  he  gave  the  substance  of  its  contents  to  someone  who  gave 
expression  to  them  in  his  own  peculiar  style.  The  names  have 
been  suggested  of  Barnabas,  of  Luke  (to  whose  style  in  the  Acts 
there  is  considerable  resemblance),  of  Aquila,  of  Apollos  the 
Alexandrian  (eloquent  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures),  and 
Clement  of  Rome.  There  is  such  an  entire  absence  of  material  for 
forming  a  tlccision  that  we  are  compelled  to  rest  in  the  certainty 
that  the  name  of  the  author  cannot  be  known.  All  the  more  we 
praise  God  that  we  know  for  certain  that  the  Holy  Spirit  spake 
in  him  who  wrote,  and  that  it  is  He  who  has  given  us  in  the 
Epistle  one  of  the  deepest  and  fullest  revelations  which  the  Bible 
contains  of  the  counsel  of  redemption,  and  the  glory  of  the  Son 
who  makes  us  partakers  of  it. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  ail  21 


2.  To  WHOM  THE  Epistle  was  written. 

The  Jews  had  the  name  of  Hebrews  from  Abraham,  who,  in 
Gen.  xiv.  13,  is  spoken  of  as  "the  Hebrew."  It  was  counted  a 
title  of  honour,  as  we  see  in  Paul's,  "  an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews.' 
Some  have  thought  that,  because  no  special  place  or  church  is 
mentioned,  it  was  meant  for  all  Christians  among  the  Jews. 
But  expressions  as,  "  Fray  that  I  may  be  restored  to  you  the 
sooner,"  "  With  Timothy,  if  he  come  shortly,  I  will  see  you," 
compel  us  to  think  of  some  special  community.  The  most  pro- 
bable view  is  that  it  was  addressed,  in  the  first  place,  to  the 
Christians  in  Jerusalem.  From  Acts  xxi.  20,  we  know  that 
there  were  many  thousands  of  them,  who,  while  believing  in 
Christ,  yet  clung  to  the  temple  and  its  worship.  Nowhere  were 
they  in  greater  danger  of  yielding  to  the  temptation  of  con- 
formity to  the  spirit  of  the  world  around  them,  and  losing  the 
boldness  and  the  brightness  of  their  Christian  life ;  and  no- 
where would  there  be  better  opportunity  of  securing  for  the  letter 
the  widest  possible  circulation  through  all  the  scattered  Chris- 
tian churches  among  the  Jews. 

3.  The  Object  of  the  Epistle. 

What  was  it  that  led  the  writer  to  take  his  pen?  The 
Epistle  itself  gives  us  the  answer.  The  religious  state  of  those 
to  whom  it  was  addressed  was  far  from  right  or  satisfactory. 
Some  had  grown  "  slothful,"  were  "  not  giving  earnest  heed," 
were  "  neglecting  the  great  salvation."  They  were  no  longer 
"  holding  fast  their  profession  "  or  "  their  confidence."  The  Chris- 
tian life  was  feeble  and  ready  to  die.  Others  had  "  gone  back," 
were  in  danger  of  "  coming  short  of  the  promises,"  and,  yielding 


22  Zlbe  Doliedt  ot  Bll 


to  "  wilful  sin,"  "  drawing  back  to  perdition."  Still  others  were 
in  danger  of  "refusing  Ilim  who  speaks  from  heaven,"  of  giving 
up  their  faith  in  Jesus.  Expressions  such  as  we  have  quoted, 
and  others,  indicate  clearly  that  there  had  been  much  back- 
sliding, and  that  the  Church  was  in  a  state  that  needed  most 
solemn  and  pointed  warning. 

Great  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  difficulties  that  arose 
in  the  mind  of  the  Hebrews  from  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  placed.  They  had  hoped  that  their  countrymen 
would  speedily  accept  the  Messiah :  they  had  been  signally 
disappointed.  They  still  clung  to  the  old  worship ;  but  felt 
more  and  more  that,  suspected  and  despised  as  they  were,  they 
could  no  longer  be  at  home  there.  The  prophecies  appeared  to 
fail  them,  both  in  regard  to  the  power  with  which  Christ  should 
reign,  and  the  blessing  He  would  bestow.  To  meet  these 
difficulties,  it  is  said,  the  Epistle  seeks  to  open  up  the  true 
glory  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  to  show  that  all  that 
they  lost  in  the  old  worship  was  a  hundredfold  restored  in  the 
"  something  better  "  God  had  now  provided.  It  seeks  to  solve 
the  problem  that  troubled  them  in  the  light  of  the  gospel. 

There  is  doubtless  a  measure  of  truth  in  this  view.-  And 
yet,  the  more  I  study  the  Epistle,  the  more  confident  I  feel  that 
this  was  not  the  chief  trouble;  the  main  difficulty  lay  in  the 
want  of  religious  earnestness.  Their  case  was  very  much  what 
has  been  the  story  of  almost  every  Church,  and  what  marks  the 
state  of  the  greater  part  of  Christendom  at  the  present  day. 

It  was  to  meet  this  spirit  of  backsliding,  to  warn  against 
the  disease  and  its  danger,  and  to  make  known  the  infallible 
cure,  that  our  author  takes  up  his  pen.  He  saw  that  the  one 
cause  of  all  the  feebleness  and  faithlessness  was  this :  the  want 
of  the  knowledge  and  the  faith  of  what  Christ  and   His  salva- 


Zbc  Iboliest  ot  au 


tion  truly  are.  He  sets  himself  to  show  them  how  wonderfully, 
how  divinely,  all  the  prophecies  and  types  of  the  Old  Testament 
have  their  fulfilment  in  the  salvation  the  Son  of  God  has 
wrought  for  us.  He  unceasingly  places  their  weakness  and 
Christ's  person  side  by  side :  he  is  sure  that,  if  they  but  know 
Christ,  all  will  be  well. 

4.  The  Plan  of  the  Epistle. 

In  what  way  does  the  writer  propose  to  attain  his  object? 
In  the  opening  verses  we  find  the  substance  of  his  whole  argu- 
ment. God,  who  spoke  to  the  fathers  in  the  prophets,  hath  now 
spol^en  to  us  in  the  Son.  There  have  been  two  revelations  of 
God  to  man.  The  first  was  through  men ;  the  second  through 
the  Son.  As  much  more  glorious  as  God's  Son  is  than  His 
servants,  has  the  new  revelation  more  of  life  and  of  glory  than 
the  old.  He  not  only  writes  to  prove  the  superiority  of  the  new 
above  the  old,  but  specially  to  show  what  that  intrinsic  excellence 
is  which  gives  it  that  superiority.  In  the  knowledge  of  this 
its  excellence,  both  faith  and  experience  will  find  their  strength. 
The  contents  of  the  Epistle,  taking  its  doctrinal  and  practical 
aspect  together,  may  be  summarised — the  knowledge  of  the  Son 
of  God,  the  power  of  the  Christian  life. 

The  Epistle  is  divided  into  two  parts.  In  the  first,  the  doc- 
trinal half  (i.  i-x.  18),  we  have  the  glory  of  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ  set  forth.  In  the  second,  or  practical  half  (x.  ig-xni. 
25),  the  life  is  described  which  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  His 
salvation  will  enable  us  to  live. 

I  have  had  the  Epistle  printed  at  the  beginning  of  the  book, 
with  headings  showing  the  contents  of  the  different  parts,  with 
the  view  of  inviting  and  helping  the  reader  to  make  himself 


24  XLbc  t>OliC0t  ot  Bll 


master  of  the  writing  as  a  whole.  It  is  of  great  consequence 
that  the  student  of  God's  word  should  not  only  seek  his  edifica- 
tion from  individual  texts  or  passages,  but  that  each  book  should 
be  to  him  a  living  and  connected  organism,  all  alive  with  the 
Spirit  that  dwells  in  it.  The  more  we  thus  take  time  and  trouble 
to  accept  the  great  thoughts  of  God,  the  more  will  our  life  be 
brought  to  that  unity  and  breadth,  in  which  the  purpose  of  God 
will  be  perfectly  fulfilled. 

The  first  three  verses  give  us  the  summary  of  the  doctrinal 
part. 

Then  follow  twelve  sections. 

1.  Christ,  as  Son  of  God,  is  more  than  the  angels  (i.  4-14). 

2.  Jesus,  as   Son  of  Man,  is   more  than  the  angels'  too. 

Reasons  for  His  being  made  lower  than  the  angels 
(ii.  5-18). 

3.  Christ  Jesus  more  than  Moses  (iii.  1-6). 

4.  Jesus,  our  High  Priest,  more  than  Aaron  (iv.  14-v.  10). 

5.  The  New  Priesthood   after  the  order  of  Melchizedek 

(vii.). 

6.  The  New  Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant  (viii.). 

7.  The  power  of  Christ's  blood   to  inaugurate  the   New 

Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant  (ix.). 

8.  The  New  Way  into  the  Holiest  (x.  1-18). 

Here  commences  the  second,  the  practical,  half,  with  its  call 
to  a  life  corresponding  to  our  privileges. 

9.  Of  entering  the  Holiest  and  dwelling  there  (x.  19-25). 

10.  Of  the  P'ulness  of  Faith  (xi.  1-40). 

11.  Of  the  Patience  of  Hope  (xii.  1-13). 

12.  Of  Love  and  Good  Works  (xiii.  1-25). 


^be  Ibolicst  of  2111  25 


In  this  summary  of  contents  I  have  not  taken  up  the  passages 
containing  the  solemn  warnings  by  which  the  Epistle  is  charac- 
terised. They  are  so  inserted  that  they  could  in  each  case  be 
left  out,  without  the  argument  suffering.  In  some  cases,  the 
connection  would  in  fact  be  clearer.  I  have  had  this  indicated 
in  the  printing,  because  I  am  sure  that  it  is  of  importance,  if 
we  would  thoroughly  master  the  lesson  given  us,  that  we  should 
fully  apprehend  the  danger  which  threatened,  and  in  some  right 
measure  see  how  the  only  deliverance  for  Christians  from  all 
that  weakens  and  hinders  them,  is  the  full  knowledge  of  the 
person  and  work  of  Jesus. 

The  Warnings. 

1.  After  the  proof  of  Christ  being  more  than  the  angels 

— Not  to  neglect  so  great  salvation  (ii.  1-4). 

2.  After  the  proof  of  Christ  being  more  than  Moses— A^i?/ 

like  Israel  in  the  zvilderness  to  come  short  of  the  pro- 
mised rest  (iii.  7-iv.  1 3). 

3.  After  the  mention  of  Christ  being  more  than  Aaron— 

Against  the  danger  of  sloth,  standing  still,  afid  falling 
away  (v.  i  i-vi.  21). 

4.  After  the  call  to  enter  the  opened  Holiest — Against 

sinning   ivilfully,   and   draiving    hack    to   perdition 
(x.  26-39). 

5.  After  the   exhortation    to    patience  —  Against  falling 

short  of  the  grace  of  God  and  refusing  Him  who 
speaks  (xii.  1 5-29). 

The  deeper  our  impression  is  of  the  danger  that  existed,  the 
clearer  will  be  our  insight  into  the  truth  that  the  only  source 
of  health  and  strength  to  the  Church  is  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus. 


20  Zbc  -boUc&t  ot  Bll 


5.  The  Epistle  and  the  Church  of  our  Days. 

There  is  one  more  point  in  which  an  Introduction  can  help 
the  reader.  It  is  to  suggest  the  relation  in  which  a  book  stands 
to  the  special  needs  of  our  present  times. 

In  the  Christian  Church  of  our  day  the  number  of  members 
is  very  large,  whose  experience  corresponds  exactly  with  that 
which  the  Epistle  pictures  and  seeks  to  meet.  How  many 
Christians  are  there  yet  who,  after  the  profession  of  faith  in 
Christ,  come  to  a  standstill.  "  Taking  more  abundant  heed  to 
what  they  hear " ;  "  giving  diligence  to  enter  into  the  rest  of 
God  "  ;  "  pressing  on  to  perfection  "  ;  "  running  with  patience  the 
race  " — just  these  are  the  things  which  are  so  little  found.  So 
many  rest  contented  with  the  thought  that  their  sins  are  par- 
doned, and  that  they  are  in  the  path  of  life,  but  know  nothing 
of  a  personal  attachment  to  Christ  as  their  Leader,  or  of  a 
faith  that  lives  in  the  invisible  and  walks  with  God.  With 
many  this  is  the  consequence  of  the  hopelessness  that  came 
from  the  failure  of  their  utmost  efforts  to  live  as  they  desired. 
They  struggled  in  their  own  strength ;  they  knew  not  Christ  as 
the  secret  of  strength ;  they  lost  heart,  and  went  back.  The 
profession  of  faith  is  not  cast  away ;  religious  habits  are  kept 
up  ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  they  have  entered  or  are 
seeking  to  enter  the  Holiest  to  dwell  there.  The  power  of  the 
world,  the  spirit  of  its  literature,  the  temptations  of  business 
and  pleasure,  all  unite  to  make  up  a  religion  in  which  it  is 
sought  to  combine  a  comfortable  hope  for  the  future  with  the 
least  possible  amount  of  sacrifice  in  the  present.  The  Epistle, 
with  its  warnings,  is  indeed  a  glass  in  which  the  Church  of  the 
present  day  may  see  itself. 

13ut  it  is  a  glass  too,  thank  God,  in  which  we  can  also  see 


XLbe  Iboliest  ot  Bll  27 


the  glory  of  Jesus  on  the  throne  of  heaven,  in  the  power  that 
can  make  our  heart  and  life  heavenly  too.  What  the  Hebrews 
needed  is  what  we  need.  Not  in  ourselves  or  our  efforts  is 
salvation,  but  in  Christ  Jesus.  To  see  Him,  to  consider  Him, 
to  look  to  Him,  as  He  lives  in  heaven,  that  will  bring  the  healing. 
As  little  as  the  Hebrews  with  the  Old  Testament,  its  God-given 
law,  its  temple  service,  and  its  prophecy,  could  withstand  the 
temptation  to  "  wax  weary  and  grow  faint,"  can  the  New 
Testament,  with  a  sound  Church  and  Church  doctrine,  and  its 
religious  services,  give  us  the  true  life  and  power  of  godliness. 
It  is  Jesus  Christ  we  must  know  better.  It  is  He  who  lives 
to-day  in  heaven,  who  can  lead  us  into  the  heavenly  sanctuary, 
and  keep  us  there,  who  can  give  heaven  into  our  heart  and  life. 
The  knoivledge  of  Jesus  in  His  heavenly  glory  and  His  saving 
pozver ;  it  is  this  our  Churches  and  our  Christians  need.  It  is 
this  the  Epistle  will  bring  us,  if  we  yield  to  that  Spirit  who 
speaks  in  it,  to  reveal  it  in  us.^ 

It  is,  therefore,  with  great  confidence  that  I  invite  all  who 
long  for  the  rest  of  God,  for  a  life  in  the  holiest  of  God's  love, 
for  the  fulness  of  faith  and  hope  and  love,  to  take  up  the  study 
of  the  Epistle,  with  the  confident  assurance  of  finding  in  its 
revelation  of  what  Christ  and  His  salvation  are,  the  deliverance 
from  sin  and  sloth,  the  joy  and  the  strength  of  a  new  life. 

^  I  have  had  the  texts  referring  to  the  heavenly  place  and  work  of  our  Lord 
printed  in  red.  To  direct  attention  to  this,  the  central  thought  of  our  Epistle,— that 
because  Christ  came  from  heaven,  and  went  back  to  heaven,  and  opened  heaven  for 
us,  and  does  His  work  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  heaven,  Christians  can  live  a  super- 
natural, a  heavenly  life. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 


(ITfje  EnoiuletiSE  of  ti)e  5)0n  of  ffl^oti  i\}c  Secret  of  i\\t 
Exiit  Cfjrtstian  iltfc. 


FIRST  HALF-DOCTRINAL.-Chap.  i.-x.  18. 

The  Son  of  God 
the  Mediator  of  the  Better  Covenant. 


THE  THEME -i.  1-3. 
The  Glory  of  the  Son  in  His  Person  and  Work. 


THE   SON  IN  WHOM   GOD  HATH   SPOKEN. 

I.— 1.  God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets 
by  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners, 

2.  Hath  at  the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son. 

God  hath  spoken!  The  magnificent  portal  by  which  we 
enter  into  the  temple  in  which  God  is  to  reveal  His  glory  to 
us  !  We  are  at  once  brought  into  the  presence  of  God  Himself. 
The  one  object  of  the  Epistle  is  to  lead  us  to  God,  to  reveal  God, 
to  bring  us  into  contact  with  Himself.  Man  was  created  for 
God.  Sin  separated  from  God.  Man  feels  his  need,  and  seeks 
for  God.  This  Epistle  comes  with  the  gospel  message  of  re- 
demption, to  teach  us  where  and  how  to  find  God.  Let  all  who 
thirst  for  God,  for  the  living  God,  draw  nigh  and  listen. 

God  hath  spoken !  Speaking  is  the  vehicle  of  fellowship. 
It  is  a  proof  that  the  speaker  considers  him  he  addresses  as 
capable  of  fellowship  with  himself;  a  token  that  he  longs  for  that 
fellowship.  Man  was  created  for  fellowship  with  God.  Sin 
interrupted  it.  Nature  speaks  of  God  and  His  work,  but  of 
Himself,  His  heart,  and  His  thoughts  of  love  towards  us  as 
sinners,  nature  cannot  tell.  In  his  deepest  misery  man  seeks 
for  God — but  how  often,  to  all  appearance,  in  vain.     But,  God 


32  Zbe  -fcoUeet  of  au 


be  praised,  not  for  always.  The  silence  has  been  broken.  God 
calls  man  back  to  fellowship  with  Himself     God  hath  spoken  I 

God  hath  spoken!  For  a  time,  imperfectly  and  provision- 
ally in  the  prophets,  in  preparation  for  the  more  perfect  revelation 
(jf  Himself  But  now  at  length  the  joyful  tidings  arc  heard 
— God  hath  spoken  in  His  Son!  God,  the  infinite,  incompre- 
hensible, unseen  One,  hath  spoken  I  i\.nd  that  in  His  Son  !  Oh 
the  joy  and  the  glory!  who  can  measure  it?  "Hear!  O 
heavens,  and  give  ear!  O  earth,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken." 

God  hath  spoken !  When  man  speaks  it  is  the  revelation 
of  himself,  to  make  known  the  otherwise  hidden  thoughts  and 
dispositions  of  his  heart.  When  God,  who  dwells  in  light  that 
is  inaccessible,  speaks  out  of  the  heights  of  His  glory,  it  is  that 
He  may  reveal  Himself  He  would  have  us  know  how  He  loves 
us  and  longs  for  us,  how  He  wants  to  save  and  to  bless,  how  He 
would  have  us  draw  nigh  and  live  in  fellowship  with  Himself 

God  hath  spoken  in  His  Son!  The  ministry  of  angels 
and  prophets  was  only  to  prepare  the  way;  it  never  could 
satisfy  the  heart  either  of  God  or  man  ;  the  real  power  of  the 
life  of  God,  the  full  experience  of  His  nearness,  the  true  deliver- 
ance from  sin,  the  shedding  abroad  of  the  love  in  the  heart, — 
this  could  not  be  communicated  by  the  ministry  of  creatures. 
The  Son  Himself  had  to  come  as  the  Word  of  God  to  us,  the 
bearer  of  the  life  and  love  of  the  Father.  The  Son  Himself 
had  to  come  to  bring  us  into  living  contact  with  the  divine 
Being,  to  dwell  in  our  heart,  as  He  dwells  in  God's  heart,  to  be 
in  us  God's  word  as  He  is  in  God,  and  so  to  give  us  the  living 
experience  of  what  it  means  that  God  speaks  to  us. 

God  hath  spoken !  The  words  of  a  man  carry  weight  accord- 
ing to  the  idea  I  have  of  his  wisdom,  his  veracity,  his  power, 
his    love.      The  words  of  God  !      Oh,  who   can    express  what 


^be  Iboliest  of  Bll  33 

they  ought  to  be  worth  to  us !  Each  word  carries  with  it  all 
the  life  of  God,  all  His  saving  power  and  love.  God  speaking 
in  His  Son !  Surely  they  who  have  begun  to  know  Him  will 
be  ready  to  cast  aside  everything  for  the  sake  of  hearing  Him. 

God  hath  spoken !  The  words  of  men  have  often  exerted 
a  wonderful  and  a  mighty  influence.  But  the  words  of  God — 
they  are  creative  deeds,  they  give  what  they  speak.  "  He 
spake,  and  it  was  done."  When  God  speaks  in  His  Son,  He 
gives  Him  to  us,  not  only  for  us  and  with  us,  but  in  us.  He 
speaks  the  Son  out  of  the  depth  of  His  heart  into  the  depths 
of  our  heart.  Men's  words  appeal  to  the  mind  or  the  will,  the 
feelings  or  the  passions.  God  speaks  to  that  which  is  deeper 
than  all,  to  the  heart,  that  central  depth  within  us  whence 
are  the  issues  of  life.  Let  us  believe  the  mighty,  quickening 
power  God's  word  will  have. 

God  hath  spoken!  Speaking  claims  hearing.  God  asks 
but  one  thing ;  it  is  so  simple  and  right ;  that  we  should 
listen.  Shall  we  not  hearken,  in  holy  reverence  and  worship, 
with  whole-hearted  attention  and  surrender,  to  what  He  would 
say  to  us  in  this  Epistle  too?  We  too  shall  know  what  the 
power  and  the  joy  is  of  God  speaking  to  us  in  His  Son.  God 
is  a  Spirit.  As  such  He  has  no  other  way  of  communicating 
to  us  His  life  or  His  love,  but  by  entering  our  spirit  and 
dwelling  and  working  there.  There  He  causes  Christ  to  dwell, 
and  there  He  speaks  to  us  in  Christ  these  words  of  redeeming 
love  and  power  which  bring  life  to  us.  The  words  of  Christ 
can  bring  us  no  profit,  except  as  they  unfold  to  us  what  God 
is  working  in  us,  and  direct  us  to  what  is  to  be  revealed  in  our 
heart.  It  is  the  heart  God  wants  ;  let  us  open  the  whole 
heart  to  listen  and  to  long. 

God  hath  spoken  in  His  Son !  The  living  Jesus,  come  forth 
3 


34  ^be  Iboliest  of  Bll 


from  the  fiery  furnace  of  God's  holiness,  from  the  burning  glow 
of  everlasting  love,  He  Himself  is  the  living  Word.  Let  us 
seek  in  the  study  of  this  Epistle,  in  which  His  glory  is  so 
wondrously  revealed,  to  come  into  contact  with  Him,  to  receive 
Him  into  our  hearts,  to  take  Him  as  our  life,  that  He  may  bring 
us  to  the  Father.  In  the  beginning  God  spake:  "Let  there 
be  light !  and  there  was  light."  Even  so  now  He  speaks  with 
creative  power  in  His  Son,  and  the  presence  and  the  light  of 
Christ  become  the  life  and  the  light  of  the  soul. 

7.  What  trouble  people  tahe  to  learn  a  foreign  language,  to  have  access  to  its  writers.  Let 
no  trouble  be  too  great  to  understand  the  language  of  God,  His  Word,  His  Son.  To  learn  a  foreign 
language  I  get  someone  who  hnows  it  to  teach  me.  The  language  of  God  is  heavenly,  spiritual, 
supernatural— altogether  divine;  only  the  Holy  Spirit  can  teach  me  to  understand  it,  to  think 
God's  own  thoughts.     Let  nje  take  Him  as  my  teacher. 

2.  "And  Abram  full  on  his  face  :  and  God  talked  with  him."  As  personally  and  directly,  even 
more  wonderfully  and  effectually,  will  God  speak  to  me  in  His  Son  ;  but  deep,  holy  reverence,  and 
an  intense  desire  to  know  what  God  says,  must  be  the  spirit  in  which  I  study  the  Epistle  and 
hearken  to  the  blessed  Son. 

3.  "Heavenly  truth  is  nowhere  spoken  but  by  the  voice  of  Christ,  nor  heard  but  by  the  power  of 
Christ,  living  in  the  hearer."  "  He  that  is  of  God  heareth  God's  words."  It  is  only  he  who  yields 
himself  to  the  new  nature  who  can  truly  know  what  God's  speaking  in  Christ  is. 

4.  During  Christ's  life  the  word  of  God  was  thrice  heard.  Each  time  it  was  :  "  This  is  My 
beloved  Son  :  hear  Him.  "  "  /  have  glorified  Him. "  Let  us  allow  God  to  speak  this  one-  word  into 
our  hearts— My  beloved  Son.  0  my  God .'  speak  to  me  in  Thy  Son.  Oh,  speak  that  one  word 
out  of  the  depth  of  Thy  heart  into  the  depth  of  my  heart. 


Zbc  IboUeet  of  Bll  35 


II. 

THE   SON-MORE  THAN  THE  PROPHETS. 

I.— 1.  God,    having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets 
by  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners, 

2.  Hath  at  the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son. 

We  all  know  that  there  are  two  Testaments — the  Old  and  the 
New.  These  represent  two  dispensations,  two  modes  of  worship, 
two  sorts  of  religions,  two  ways  in  which  God  has  intercourse 
with  man,  and  man  draws  nigh  to  God.  The  one  was  provisional, 
preparatory,  and  intended  to  pass  away.  What  it  gave  and 
wrought  was  not  meant  to  satisfy,  but  only  to  awaken  the 
expectation  of  something  better  that  was  to  come.  The  other 
was  the  fulfilment  of  what  had  been  promised,  and  destined 
to  last  for  ever,  because  it  was  itself  a  complete  revelation  of 
an  everlasting  redemption,  of  a  salvation  in  the  power  of  an 
endless  life. 

In  both  Old  and  New  Testament  it  was  God  who  spake. 
The  prophets  in  the  Old,  and  the  Son  in  the  New,  were 
equally  God's  messengers.  God  spake  in  the  prophets  no  less 
truly  than  in  the  Son.  But  in  the  Old  everything  was  external 
and  through  the  mediation  of  men.  God  Himself  could  not 
yet  enter  and  take  possession  of  man  and  dwell  in  him.  In 
the  New  all  is  more  directly  and  immediately  divine — in  an 
inward  power  and  reality  and  life,  of  which  the  Old  had  only 
the  shadow  and  hope.  The  Son,  who  is  God,  brings  us  into 
the  very  presence  of  God. 


36  Zbe  Dolicet  of  BU 


And  wherefore  was  it  that  God  did  not,  could  not,  from  the 
\  ery  beginning,  reveal  Himself  in  the  Son  ?  What  need  was 
there  of  these  two  ways  of  worshijiping  and  serving  Him  ?  The 
answer  is  twofold — If  man  were  indeed  intelligently  and  volun- 
tarily to  appropriate  God's  love  and  redemption,  he  needed  to 
be  prepared  for  it.  He  needed  first  of  all  to  know  his  own 
utter  impotence  and  hopeless  wretchedness.  And  so  his  heart 
had  to  be  wakened  up  in  true  desire  and  expectancy  to  welcome 
and  value  what  God  had  to  give. 

When  God  speaks  to  us  in  Christ  it  is  as  the  Father  divcUing 
in  the  Son.  "  The  words  that  I  say  unto  you,  I  speak  not  from 
Myself,  but  the  Father  abideth  in  Me  doeth  the  works."  Just  as 
God's  speaking  in  Christ  was  an  inward  thing.  So  God  can 
still  speak  to  us  in  no  other  way.  The  external  words  of  Christ, 
just  like  the  words  of  the  prophets,  are  to  prepare  us  for,  and 
point  us  to,  that  inner  speaking  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  alone  is  life  and  power.  This  is  God's  true  speaking  in 
His  Son. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  for  our  spiritual  life  that  we 
should  rightly  understand  these  two  stages  in  God's  dealing 
with  man.  In  two  ways,  not  in  one:  not  in  more  llran  two; 
in  two  ways  has  God  spoken. 

They  indicate  what,  in  substance,  is  God's  way  with 
every  Christian.'  There  is,  after  his  conversion,  a  time  of 
preparation  and  testing,  to  see  whether  he  willingly  and 
heartily  sacrifices  all  for  the  full  blessing.  If  in  this  stage  he 
perseveres  in  earnest  effort  and  stri\  ing,  he  will  be  brought  to 
learn  the  two  lessons  the  Old  Testament  was  meant  to  teach. 
He  will  become  more  deeply  conscious  of  his  own  impotence, 

'  "The  characlcrislics  which  before  marked  the  revelation  itself,  now  lu.irk  the 
human  apprehension  of  the  linal  revelation."-  -WESTcnrr. 


Zbc  iboiteet  of  ail  37 


and  the  strong  desire  will  be  wakened  after  a  better  life,  to  be 
found  in  the  full  revelation  of  Christ  as  able  to  save  completely. 
When  these  two  lessons  are  learned — the  lesson  of  despair 
of  self  and  hope  in  God  alone — the  soul  is  prepared,  if  it  will 
yield  itself  in  faith  to  the  leading  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  enter 
truly  into  the  New  Testament  life  within  the  veil,  in  the  very 
Holiest  of  All,  as  it  is  set  forth  in  this  Epistle. 

Where  Christians,  through  defective  instruction,  or  through 
neglect  and  sloth,  do  not  understand  God's  way  for  leading 
them  on  unto  perfection,  the  Christian  life  will  always  remain 
full  of  feebleness  and  failure.  It  was  thus  with  the  Hebrew 
Christians.  They  belonged  to  the  New  Testament,  but  their 
life  was  anything  but  the  exhibition  of  the  power  and  joy 
Christ  came  to  reveal.  They  were  far  behind  what  many  of 
the  Old  Testament  saints  had  been  ;  and  the  reason  was  this — 
they  knew  not  the  heavenly  character  of  the  redemption  Christ 
had  brought.  They  knew  not  the  heavenly  place  in  which  He 
ministers,  nor  the  heavenl}'  blessing  He  dispenses,  nor  the 
heavenly  power  in  which  He  secures  our  enjoyment  of  these 
blessings.  They  knew  not  the  difference  between  the  prophets 
and  the  Son  ;  what  it  means  that  God  has  now  spoken  to  us 
in  His  Son.  The  one  object  of  the  Epistle  is  to  set  before 
us  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  Christ  and  the  heavenly  life  to 
which  He  in  His  divine  power  gives  us  access.  It  is  this  gives 
the  Epistle  its  inestimable  value  for  all  time,  that  it  teaches  us 
the  way  out  of  the  elementary  stage  of  the  Christian  life  to  that 
of  full  and  perfect  access  to  God. 

Let  us  grasp  and  hold  firmly  the  difference  between  the 
two  stages.  In  the  one,  the  action  of  man  is  more  prominent: 
God  speaks  in  the  prophets.  In  the  other,  the  divine  pre- 
sence  and    power   are    more    fully   revealed :    God    speaks    in 


38  Zbc  Ibolicdt  ot  Bll 


the  Son,  who  bears  and  brings  the  very  life  of  God,  and  brings 
us  into  livinL,^  contact  with  God  Himself  In  the  one,  it  is  the 
human  words  that  occupy  and  influence  and  help  us  to  seek 
God  ;  in  the  other,  the  divine  indwelling  Word  reveals  its  power 
within.  In  the  one,  it  is  multiplicity  of  thoughts  and  truths, 
of  ordinances  and  efforts  ;  in  the  other,  the  simplicit}'  and  the 
unity  of  the  one  Son  of  God,  and  faith  in  Him  alone. 

How  many  have  sought  by  study  and  meditation  and  ac- 
ceptance of  the  words  of  the  Bible  to  find  God,  and  yet  have 
failed.  They  knew  not  that  these  were  but  the  finger-posts 
pointing  to  the  living  Son, — words  coming  indeed  from  God, 
most  needful  and  profitable,  and  yet  not  sufficient  ;  only  yielding 
us  their  true  blessing  when  they  ha\c  brought  us  to  hear  God 
Himself  speaking  in  His  Son. 

7.  Let  none  of  us  rest  content  with  the  lower  stage.  Let  us  see  that  personal  fellowship 
with  God,  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  what  Christ  gives.  God  calls  us  to  it :  Christ  Hues  in 
heaven  to  work  it,  through  the  Spirit  He  gives  from  lieauen. 

2.  One  may  know  much  of  the  Bible  and  the  words  of  God,  and  yet  remain  feeble.  What 
one  needs  is  to  know  the  living  Word,  in  whom  God  speaks  within,  in  life  and  power. 

3.  All  the  prophets  point  to  the  Son,  as  the  true  Prophet.  Let  us  take  them  very  definitely 
as  our  teachers,  to  reveal  God  in  i/.s. 

4.  When  I  speak  a  word,  I  desire  all  it:s  meaning  and  force  to  enter  into  him  whom  I  address. 
Gud  has  in  these  last  days  but  one  Word.  He  desires  to  have  all  that  Word  is  and  means  enter 
in  and  live  in  us.  Let  us  open  our  hearts,  and  God  will  speak  into  it  that  one  Word,  This  is  My 
Son,  in  such  a  way  that  He  will  indeed  be  all  our  own. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  Bll  39 


III. 

THE  SON-THE  GLOEY  OP  HIS  PERSON. 

I.— 2.  God  hath  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son,  whom  he  appointed  heir  of  all 
things,  through  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds ; 

3.  Who  being  the  effulgence  ^  of  his  glory,  and  the  very  image  of  his 
substance,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power. 

We  know  that  whatever  a  man  sets  his  heart  on  exercises  a 
mighty  influence  on  the  life,  and  leaves  its  stamp  upon  his 
character.  He  that  follows  after  vanity  becomes  vain.  He 
that  trusts  in  a  god  of  his  own  fancy  will  find  his  religion  an 
illusion.  He  that  sets  his  heart  upon  the  living  God  will  find 
the  living  God  take  possession  and  fill  the  heart.  It  is  this  that 
makes  it  of  such  infinite  consequence  that  we  should  not  only 
have  a  general  idea  of  the  Christ  through  whom  God  speaks  to 
us,  but  should  know  Him  aright  and  have  our  heart  filled  with 
all  that  God  has  revealed  of  Him.  Our  knowledge  of  Him  will 
be  the  food  of  our  faith,  and  as  our  faith  is  will  be  our  experience 
of  His  saving  power,  and  of  the  fellowship  with  God  to  which 
He  leads.  Let  us  listen  to  what  we  are  taught  of  the  Son  in 
whom  God  speaks  to  us. 

Whom  He  appointed  Heir  of  all  things.  The  great  object 
and  aim  of  God  in  creation  was  to  have  an  inheritance  for 
His  Son,  in  which  He  might  show  forth  His  glory  and  find  His 
blessedness.     The  Son  is  the  Final  Cause,  the  End  of  all  things. 

He  is  the  Beginning  too.     Through  whom  He  also  made 

'  Outshinin'T. 


40  ^be  -bolicdt  of  Bll 


the  worlds.  He  is  the  oris^in  and  Efficient  Cause  of  all  that 
exists.  "Without  Him  nothing  was  made  that  was  made." 
The  place  the  Son  had  in  the  divine  Being  was  such  that 
God's  relation  to  all  that  was  outside  of  Himself  was  only 
through  the  Son.  Of  all  that  exists  the  end  and  the  beginning 
meet  in  Him. 

And  He  is  the  Middle,  too.  Upholding  all  things  by  the 
word  of  His  power.  He  bears  all  things,  "all  things  consist 
in  Him."  As  little  as  they  were  created  without  Him,  can  they 
exist  without  Him  ?  He  irp/iolds  them  every  movient  \>y  the 
word  of  His  power,  e\'en  as  by  His  word  they  were  created. 
This  is  the  Son  through  whom  God  speaks  to  us. 

And  what  is  it  that  makes  Him  worthy  of  taking  this  high 
place  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature  ?  Because,  as  the 
Son,  it  is  He  alone  in  whom  the  unapproachable  and  utterly 
incomprehensible  glory  of  God  is  made  manifest,  through 
whom  as  Mediator  the  uncreated  God,  and  the  works  of  His 
hand,  can  come  into  contact  and  fellowship.  His  relation  to 
creation  rests  on  His  relation  to  the  Father.  He  is  the  out- 
shining of  God's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  His 
substance.  As  we  only  know  the  sun  by  the  light  that  shines 
from  it,  so  is  Christ  the  outshining,  the  re\elation  of  God's 
glory.  As 'the  light  that  shines  from  the  sun  is  of  the  same 
nature  with  it,  so  the  Son  is  of  one  nature  with  the  leather — 
God  of  God.  And  as  a  son  bears  the  likeness  of  his  father, 
because  he  has  his  life  and  nature  from  him,  so  the  Son  of  God 
is  the  express  image  of  His  substance.  He  is  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father — its  express  image — and  hath  therefore  life  in 
Himself,  even  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  Himself 

Someone  may  be  temj)ted  to  think  that  these  are  theological 
mysteries  too  deep  for  the  ordinary  Christian,  and  not  needful 


XLbe  -ffjoitcst  of  :aii  41 


for  our  Christian  faith  and  Hfe.  And  they  are  inclined  to  ask, 
of  what  importance  it  can  be  to  a  simple  believer  to  know 
all  this?  My  brother,  think  not  thus.  It  is  all  important  that 
we  know  the  glory  of  Jesus.  The  more  the  soul  is  filled  with 
that  glory,  and  worships  Him  in  it,  the  more  it  will  see  with 
what  confidence  it  can  count  upon  Him  to  do  a  divine  and 
supernatural  work  in  us,  and  to  lead  us  to  an  actual  living 
fellowship  with  God  as  our  Father.  Oh,  let  us  not  be  so  selfish 
and  mean  as  to  be  content  with  the  hope  that  Jesus  saves  us, 
while  we  are  careless  of  having  intimate  personal  acquaintance 
with  Him.  If  not  for  our  sake,  then  for  God's  sake,  for  the 
sake  of  His  infinite  love  and  grace,  let  us  seek  to  know  aright 
this  blessed  Son  whom  the  Father  has  given  us.  Let  us  turn 
away  from  earth,  let  us  meditate  and  gaze  and  worship,  until 
He,  who  is  the  outshining  of  the  divine  glory,  shines  into  our 
very  heart,  and  He,  to  whom  the  Father  hath  given  such  a 
place  as  Creator  and  Upholder  and  Heir  of  all,  take  that  place 
with  us  too,  and  be  to  us  the  beginning  and  the  centre  and 
the  end  of  all. 

It  is  through  this  Son  God  speaks  to  us.  Not  through  the 
words  of  the  Son  only,  for  they  too  are  human  words,  and  may, 
just  like  the  inspired  words  of  the  prophets,  bring  in  but  little 
profit.  It  is  through  the  Son — the  living,  mighty,  divine  Son, 
direct — that  God  speaks  :  it  is  only  in  direct  living  contact  with 
the  Son  that  the  words  can  profit.  And  the  Son,  not  as  we 
superficially  think  of  Him,  but  the  real  divine  Son  as  God  has 
revealed  Him,  know^i  and  worshipped  and  waited  on  as  the  out- 
shining of  the  divine  glory, — it  is  this  Son  of  God,  entering 
into  our  heart  and  dwelling  there,  in  w^hom  God  will  speak  to 
us,  and  in  whom  we  shall  be  brought  nigh  to  God.  When 
Christ  reveals  the  Father,  it  is  not  to  the  mind,  to  give  us  new 


42  Jibe  ibolieet  of  ail 


thoughts  about  Him,  but  in  the  heart  and  life,  so  that  we  know 
and  experience  the  power  in  which  God  can  dwell  and  work  in 
man,  restoring  him  to  the  enjoyment  of  that  blessed  fellowship 
for  which  he  was  created,  and  which  he  lost  by  the  fall.  The 
great  work  of  God  in  heaven,  the  chief  thought  and  longing  of 
His  heart  is,  in  His  Son,  to  reach  your  heart  and  speak  to  you. 
Oh,  let  it  be  the  great  work  of  your  life,  and  the  great  longing  of 
your  heart,  to  know  this  Jesus  ;  as  a  humble,  meek  disciple  to 
bow  at  1 1  is  feet,  and  let  Him  teach  you  of  God  and  eternal  life. 
Yes,  even  now,  let  us  bow  before  Him  in  the  fourfold 
glory  in  which  the  word  has  set  Him  before  us.  He  is  the 
Heir  of  all  that  God  has.  He  is  its  Creator.  He  is  the  Up- 
holder too.  He  is  the  Outshining  of  God's  glory,  and  the 
perfect  Image  of  His  substance.  O  my  Saviour!  anything 
to  know  Thee  better,  and  in  Thee  to  have  my  God  speak  to  me! 

7.  "No  man  knoweth  the  Son,  sauc  the  Father,  neither  doth  any  know  the  Father  save  the 
Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  luilleth  to  reveal  him. "  How  dependent  we  are  on  the 
Father  to  hnow  the  Son;  on  the  Son  to  hnow  the  Father.  Let  us  achnowledgc  this  depend- 
ence in  deep  humility,  and  believe  and  wait  in  meekness  of  soul  for  the  divine  revealing. 

2.  There  are  times  when  there  arises  in  the  soul  a  deep  longing  to  know  God.  External 
teaching  does  not  satisfy.  Treasure  such  longing  as  God's  loving  drawing.  Turn  from  the  world 
in  stillness  of  soul,  and  exercise  faith  in  the  secret  power  that  Jesus  can  exert  in  the  heart. 
Become  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  one  who  follows  Him  and  learns  of  Him. 

3.  0  Thou  who  art  Heir,  Creator,  Upholder  of  all,  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  the 
express  image  of  His  substance,  0  my  Lord  Jesus,  reveal  the  Father  to  me.  that  I  may  know 
that  Qod  speaks  to  me. 


^be  IbolieBt  of  mi  43 


IV. 

THE  SON-THE  GLORY  OF  HIS  WORK. 

I.— 3.  Who,  when  he  had  made  purification ^  of  sins,  sat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high. 

The  description  of  the  glory  of  Christ's  person  is  followed  by 
that  of  the  work  of  this  Son  in  whom  God  speaks  to  u.s.  God's 
words  are  deeds.  It  is  in  what  Christ  is  and  works  that  God 
speaks  to  us.  In  His  divinity  and  incarnation  we  see  what  God 
has  given  us.  In  His  life  and  death  and  ascension  we  see  how 
the  gift  of  God  enters  and  acts  in  all  our  human  life,  how 
complete  our  salvation  is,  and  what  God  now  asks  of  us.  All 
Christ's  work  is  God's  w'ord  to  us. 

That  work  consists  in  two  parts  :  the  one  on  earth,  the  other 
in  heaven.  Of  the  former  it  is  said,  When  He  had  effected 
the  cleansing  of  sins;  of  the  latter,  He  sat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  In  a  healthy  Christian 
life  we  must  know  and  hold  fast  both  parts  of  Christ's  work. 
The  work  He  did  upon  earth  was  but  a  beginning  of  the  work 
He  was  to  do  in  heaven  ;  in  the  latter  the  work  on  earth  finds 
its  perfection  and  its  glory.  As  Priest  He  effected  the  cleansing 
of  sins  here  below;  as  Priest-King  He  sits  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  throne  to  apply  His  work,  in  heavenly  power  to  dispense  its 
blessings,  and  maintain  within  us  the  heavenly  life. 

When  He  had  effected  the  cleansing  of  sins.     The  cleans- 

'  Effected  the  cleansinsr. 


44  zbc  IboliCBt  of  BU 


ing  of  sins,  as  something  effected  by  Christ  ere  He  went  to 
heaven,  is  the  foundation  of  all  Mis  work.  Let  us  learn,  at  the 
very  outset,  that  what  God  has  to  speak  to  us  in  Christ  begins 
here  :  sin  must  be  cleansed  away.  This  is  the  root-thought 
of  redemption.  As  long  as  we  seek  salvation  chiefly  from 
the  desire  of  personal  safety,  or  approach  the  study  of  Christ's 
person  and  work  as  the  revelation  of  what  is  true  and  beautiful 
and  good,  we  cannot  enter  fully  into  its  power.  It  is  the 
cleansing  of  sin  God  insists  on  ;  in  a  desire  .so  intense  that  He 
gave  His  Son  to  die  for  it!  It  is  in  the  intense  desire  after  the 
cleansing  of  sins,  that,  all  the  way  through  the  Christian  life,  the 
spiritual  capacity  to  approach  and  enter  into  the  salvation  of 
Christ  will  be  found.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  all.  It  is  the  secret 
of  Christian  perfection.  It  was  only  when  He  had  effected 
this  that  heaven  opened  to  Him.  The  full  acceptance  of  the 
cleansing  of  sins,  as  the  meaning  of  the  word  will  be  unfolded 
later  on,  will  be  to  us,  too,  the  entrance  into  the  heaxenly  life. 

When  He  had  effected  the  cleansing  of  sins,  He  sat  down 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  T/wrr  He  lives, 
opening  up  and  keeping  open  the  bles.sed  access  to  God's  prc- 
.sence  and  fellowship  for  us  ;  lifting  us  up  into  and  maintainmg  us 
in  its  enjoyment ;  and  in  the  power  that  prevails  there,  making  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  a  reality  within  the  heart.  It  is  the  great 
object  of  the  Epistle  to  bring  home  to  us  the  Jicavcnly  glory  of 
CJirist  as  the  ground  of  our  confidence,  the  measure  of  our 
expectation,  and  the  character  of  that  inward  salvation  He 
imparts.  That  Christ  as  our  Leader  and  Forerunner  has  rent 
asunder  the  veil,  and  in  the  power  of  His  blood  has  taken 
possession  and  secured  access  into  the  Holiest  of  All,  does  not 
mean  only  that  we  are  to  enter  heaven  when  we  die.  The 
.whole    practical    teaching  of  the    Epistle  is   summed    up   and 


Zbe  Ibollest  of  ail  45 


applied  in  the  one  word  :  "  We  have  boldness  for  entering  in  : 
let  us  draw  nigh  :  let  us  enter  in."  Christ  seated  on  the  throne 
in  heaven  means  our  being  actually  brought,  in  the  supernatural 
power  which  the  coming  down  of  the  Holy  Spirit  supplies,  into 
God's  holy  presence,  and  living  there  our  daily  life.  It  was 
because  the  Hebrews  did  not  know  this,  because  they  had 
rested  content  with  elementary  truths  about  faith  and  conver- 
sion, and  then  the  life  in  heaven  after  death,  that  they  had  so 
signally  failed.  Truly  to  know  Jesus  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
would  be  the  healing  of  their  diseases,  the  restoration  to  the  joy 
and  the  strength  of  a  life  in  accordance  with  their  heavenly  calling. 

The  Church  of  our  days  is  suffering  from  the  same  cause,  and 
needs  the  same  cure.  It  is  so  much  easier  to  appropriate  the 
work  of  Christ  on  earth  than  that  in  heaven.  It  is  so  much 
easier  to  take  in  the  doctrine  of  a  Substitute  and  an  atonement, 
of  repentance  and  pardon,  than  of  a  High  Priest  bringing  us 
into  God's  presence,  and  keeping  us  in  loving  communion 
with  Him.  It  is  not  the  blood-shedding  upon  earth  only,  zV  is 
tJie  blood-sprinkling  in  heaven,  and  the  blood-sprinkling  from 
heaven  on  heart  and  conscience,  that  brings  the  power  of  the 
heavenly  life  unto  us.  And  it  is  this  alone  that  makes  us 
Christians,  who  not  only  seek  to  enter  the  gate,  but  who 
daily  press  on  in  the  living  way  that  leads  ever  deeper  into 
the  Holiest. 

Let  no  one  think  that  I  speak  of  what  is  too  high.  I  speak 
of  what  is  your  heritage  and  destiny.  The  same  share  you 
have  in  Jesus  on  the  cross,  you  have  in  Jesus  on  the  throne. 
Be  ready  to  sacrifice  the  earthly  life  for  the  heavenly  ;  to  follow 
Christ  fully  in  His  separation  from  the  world  and  His  surrender 
to  God's  will  ;  and  Christ  in  heaven  will  prove  in  you  the  reality 
and  the  power  of  His  heavenly  priesthood.     Let  the  cleansing 


46  Cbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll 


of  sins  be  to  you,  as  it  was  to  Christ,  the  entrance  to  the 
Holiest.  He  who  elTccted  the  cleansing  on  earth,  and  applies 
it  in  person  from  lica\cn,  will  assuredly  lead  \'ou  into  all  the 
fulness  of  blessing  it  has  opened  u|)  for  Him  and  for  you. 

/.  Faith  has  in  its  foundation  four  great  corner-stones  on  which  the  buildimj  rests  — the 
Diuinity  of  Christ,  the  Incarnation,  the  Atonement  on  the  Cross,  the  Ascension  to  the  Throne. 
The  last  is  the  moat  wonderful,  the  crown  of  all  the  rest,  the  perfect  reiiclation  of  what  God  has 
made  Christ  for  us.  And  so  in  the  Christian  life  it  is  the  most  important,  the  glorious 
fruit    of  all  that  goes  hrfnre. 

2.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  sent  down  after  the  ascension.  Why  ?  That  He  might  witness 
to  us  of  a  heavenly  Christ,  and  bring  the  kingdom  of  heaven  into  our  hearts  and  Hues. 

3.  "Cleansing  of  sins."  Some  one  says:  "At  this  time  I  saw  plainly  that  whatever  the 
Lord  would  communicate  and  make  known  of  Himself  and  the  mystery  of  His  kingdom,  He 
would  do  it  in  a  way  of  purity  and  holiness."  There  are  two  sides  from  which  we  can  approach 
the  higher  truth  of  God's  word  as  to  holiness  and  likeness  to  Jesus.  The  one  is  the  desire  to 
know  all  Scripture  truth  fully,  and  to  have  our  system  of  doctrine  complete  and  perfect.  The 
other  is  the  deep,  intense  longing  to  be  made  free  from  sin,  as  free  as  God  can  make  us  in  this 
life.     It  is  only  from  this  side  that  real  access  will  be  given  into  the  heavenly  life  of  Christ. 


G:I)C  HMXCSt  Ot  BU  47 


FIRST  SECTION-i.  4-14. 
The  Son  of  God  more  than  the  Angels. 


V. 

THE     SON-A    MORE    EXCELLENT    NAME. 

I.— 4.  Having  become  by  so  much  better  than  the  angels,  as  he  hath 
inherited  a  more  excellent  name  than  they. 

5.  For  iinto  which  of  the  angels  said  he  at  any  time, 
Thou  art  my  Son, 
This  day  have  I  begotten  thee  ? 
and  again, 

I  will  be  to  him  a  Father, 
And  he  shall  be  to  me  a  Son  ? 

The  superior  excellence  of  the  New  Te.stament  above  the 
Old  consists  in  this,  that  God  has  spoken  to  us,  and  wrought 
salvation  for  us  in,  His  Son.  Our  whole  Epistle  is  the  unfold- 
ing of  the  glory  of  the  person  and  work  of  the  Son.  The 
more  completely  we  apprehend  this,  and  have  our  heart  per- 
meated by  it,  the  better  we  shall  apprehend  the  completeness 
of  the  salvation  God  hath  now  provided  for  us.  To  know 
Jesus  Christ  in  His  glory  is  the  great  need,  the  only  safeguard, 
the  sure  growth  of  the  Christian  life. 

There  is  often  no  better  way  of  knowing  a  thing  than  by 
placing  it  in  contrast  with  what  is  less  perfect.  Our  Epistle 
would  teach  us  the  glory  of  the  New  Testament  by  placing  it 
in  contrast  with  the  Old,  especially   with  those  who  were  its 


IS  CTbc  -fcolicst  of  Hll 


great  mediators  and  representatives.  It  will  show  us  the 
superiority  of  Christ  over  the  angels,  over  Moses,  over  Joshua, 
over  Abraham  and  Le\i  and  Aaron. 

1 1  begins  with  the  angels.  Having  become  SO  much 
better  ^  than  the  angels,  as  He  hath  inherited  a  more  excellent 
name  than  they.  Though  these  words  belong  grammalically 
to  liic  preceding  verses,  they  are  in  reality  the  heading  of 
what  follows.  They  form  the  transition  from  the  theme  to  the 
first  part  of  the  argument  —  the  excellence  of  Christ  as  Son 
of  God  ab(nc  the  angels.  The  Jews  counted  it  one  of  their 
great  privileges  that  the  law  was  given  by  the  ministration  of 
angels  (ch.  ii.  2  ;  Acts  vii.  38,  53  ;  Gal.  iii.  19},  heavenly  spirits, 
who  came  direct  from  the  throne  of  God.  The  manifestation 
of  God  had  frequently  been  in  the  form  of  an  angel :  "  the 
angel  of  the  Lord"  had  been  Israel's  leader.  And  yet  great 
as  was  the  privilege,  it  was  as  nothing  to  that  of  the  new 
revelation.  Angels  were  but  creatures ;  they  might  show  signs 
of  heavenly  power,  and  speak  words  of  heavenly  truth ;  as 
creatures,  they  could  not  bring  down  the  life  of  God  itself, 
nor  truly  reach  into  the  life  of  man.  They  had  indeed  as  a 
title  of  honour  been  called  "sons  of  God"  (Ps.  xxix.  i,  Ixxix.  6); 
there  is  but  One  to  whom  it  was  said,  Thou  art  my  Son  ;  this 
day  I  have  begotten  Thee.  He  alone,  making  us  partakers  of 
the  very  life  of  Gcjd,  could  indeed  bring  God  nigh  to  us,  and  us 
nigh  to  God. 

It  is  the  superiority  of  the  Son  to  the  angels  the  writer  is 
going  to  prove  in  this  first  chapter  by  a  series  of  quotations 
from  Old  Testament  Scripture.  We  must  not,  however,  only 
regard    these   as   so   many    proof-texts   for  the  divinity  of  our 

'The  wonl  "heller"  is  one  <il  the  key  words  of  ihe  I'pisile.  Il  occurs 
thirleen  limes.      See  References. 


Ubc  iboUest  ot  Bii  49 


Saviour,  but  as  a  divine  revelation  of  the  glory  of  that  divinity 
in  its  various  aspects.  At  the  very  commencement  of  his  argu- 
ment he  will  prove  how  the  Old  Testament  had  all  along  borne 
witness  to  the  glory  of  God's  Son,  as  the  great  thought  that 
in  God's  revelation  to  man  ever  had  the  first  place  in  God's 
heart. 

Ere  we  proceed  to  study  the  texts  themselves,  it  is  of 
importance  that  we  notice  how  the  writer  uses  them.  When 
our  Lord  on  earth,  or  Paul,  cites  the  New  Testament,  they  say  : 
Moses  says,  or  David  says,  or  the  prophets  say.  Our  Epistle 
mostly  quotes  the  words  as  coming  from  the  lips  of  God 
Himself  In  the  seven  quotations  in  our  chapter  it  always  is, 
"  //^  saithy  Farther  on  we  find  more  than  once,  "  The  Holy 
Ghost  saith,"  Scripture  has  two  sides,  the  human  and  the 
divine.  The  knowledge  of  all  that  can  illustrate  the  Scrip- 
tures as  human  compositions  has  its  very  great  value.  But 
it  is  of  still  more  importance  never  to  forget  the  divine  side, 
and  to  be  full  of  the  conviction  that  Scripture  is  indeed  God's 
word  ;  that  God  Himself,  through  His  Spirit,  spoke  in  the 
prophets,  and  that  it  has  the  power  of  God  dwelling  in  it. 

This  conviction  will  teach  us  two  things,  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  profitable  study  of  the  Epistle.  The  one,  that 
we  recognise  that  these  words  of  God  contain  a  divine  depth  of 
meaning  which  the  human  mind  never  could  have  grasped  or 
expounded.  The  wonderful  exposition  of  Ps.  ii.  and  the  Son  of 
God  ;  of  Ps.  viii.  and  the  human  nature  of  Jesus ;  of  Ps.  xcv.  and 
the  rest  of  God  ;  of  Ps.  ex.  and  the  priesthood  of  Melchizedek  ; 
all  prove  to  us  how  they  were  inbreathed  by  that  Spirit  of 
Christ  who  knew  what  was  to  come,  and  how  it  was  that  same 
Spirit  who  alone  could  have  taught  our  writer  to  apprehend  and 
unfold  their  divine  meaning. 
4 


50  Zbc  t>olict^t  of  Bll 


The  other  lesson  is  this,  that  the  divine  thoughts,  thus 
deposited  in  the  Old  Testament  as  a  seed  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  unfolded  by  that  same  Spirit  in  the  New,  still  need  the 
teaching  of  the  Spirit  to  make  them  life  and  truth  to  us.  It 
is  God  who  must  shine  in  our  hearts  to  give  the  knowledge  of 
His  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Christ  is  the  Word, 
"  that  was  God,"  that  speaks  to  us  as  coming  out  of  the  depth 
of  God's  heart,  a  living  person  ;  it  is  only  the  heart  that  yields 
to  be  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  that  can  expect  to  profit  by  the 
teaching  of  the  word,  and  truly  to  know  Christ  in  His  divine 
saving  power.  The  truths  of  Christ's  sonship  and  divinit)- 
and  priesthood  and  redemption  were  given  in  cJiarge  to  the 
Holy  Spirit;  He  revealed  them  from  time  to  time;  He  alone 
can  reveal  thcni  to  us.  To  the  written  words  all  have  free 
access ;  our  mind  can  see  their  purport ;  but  their  life  and 
power  and  blessing,  the  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  as  a  power 
of  salvation  —  this  is  given  to  none  but  those  who  wait 
humbly  on  God's  Spirit  to  teach  them. 

7.  The  angels  brought  wonderful  messages  from  God  of  old :  but  God  is  now  drawing  far 
nearer  to  thee,  and  waiting  to  speali  in  a  far  more  wonderful  and  blessed  way.  by  revealing  the 
eternal  Word  in  thy  heart. 

2.  Words  and  wonders,  these  angels  could  bring.  But  to  bring  the  life  and  the  loue  of  God, 
and  giue  it  in  the  heart— this  the  Son  alone  can  do.  But  He  does  it.  Christ  is  the  divine  nature 
manifesting  and  communicating  itself ;  I  have  no  contact  with  Christ  or  God  in  Him,  but  as  I 
receive  Him,  as  the  divine  nature  imparting  itself,  as  manifested  in  His  human  life,  and  will,  and 
character. 

3.  If  I  were  favoured  this  day  with  the  visit  of  an  angel— what  a  privilege  I  would  count  It. 
But  Christ,  the  Son  at  the  right  hand,  will  not  only  visit,  but  will  dwell  in  me.  0  my  soul, 
rise  to  thy  privileges  :  Ond  speaks  to  thee  in  His  Son. 


^be  iFjoUcst  of  ail  51 


VL 

THE  SON-THE  ONLY  BEGOTTEN. 

I.— 5.  For  unto  which  of  the  angels  said  he  at  any  time, 
Thou  art  my  Son, 

This  day  have  I  begotten  thee  ?  (Ps.  ii.  7). 
and  again, 

I  will  be  to  him  a  Father, 
And  he  shall  be  to  me  a  Son?  (2  Sam.  vli.  14). 
6.  And  when  he  again  bringeth  in  the  firstborn  into  the  world,  he  saith. 
And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him  (Ps.  xcvli.  7). 

It  is  because  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God  that  He  is  higher  than 
the  angels,  and  that  the  New  Testament  is  so  much  higher  than 
the  Old.  If  we  would  grasp  the  teaching,  and  get  the  blessing 
of  our  Epistle,  and  indeed  become  partakers  of  the  inner  power 
and  glory  of  the  redemption  Christ  hath  brought,  we  must  tarry 
here  in  deep  humility  until  God  reveals  to  us  what  it  means, 
that  His  only  Son  has  become  our  Saviour,  The  infinite 
excellence  of  the  Son  above  the  angels  is  the  measure  of  the 
excellence  of  that  heavenly  life  He  brings  and  gives  within  us. 
The  angels  could  tell  of  God  and  of  life.  The  Son  has,  the 
Son  is,  that  life  of  God,  and  gives  it.  He  that  hath  the  Son, 
hath  life. 

Thou  art  My  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee.  The 
words  are  used  in  Acts  xiii.  33,  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 
So  the  word  firstborn  in  the  next  verse  also  has  reference  to 
the  resurrection  (Col.  i.  18  ;  Rev.  i.  5).     The  Son  was  not  only 


52  CI.K  1b0UC6t  Of  ail 


begotten  of  the  Father  in  eternity,  but  begotten  a<j^ain  in  the 
resurrecti(Mi.  In  tlie  incarnation  the  union  between  the  di\  ine 
and  the  human  nature  was  only  begun :  it  had  to  be  perfected 
by  Christ,  in  His  human  will,  yielding  Himself  to  God's  will 
even  unto  the  death.  In  the  resurrection  (Rom.  i.  4),  "  He  was 
declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power";  the  full  outbirth 
of  humanity  into  the  perfected  fellowship  and  equality  with 
Deity  was  completed  ;  the  Son  of  Man  was  begotten  into  all 
the  likeness  and  glory  of  the  Son  of  God.  Thus  Paul  applies 
it  (Acts  xiii.  33) :  "  God  raised  up  Jesus,  as  also  it  is  written  in 
the  second  Psalm,  Thou  art  My  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten 
Thee."     He  then  became  the  first  begotten  from  the  dead. 

And  again,  I  will  be  to  Him  a  Father,  and  He  shall  be  to 
me  a  Son.  The  words  were  sjjokcn  to  David  of  a  son  God 
should  give  to  him,  but  with  the  clear  indication  that  their 
meaning  reached  far  beyond  what  any  mere  man  could  be.  In 
the  Son  of  Man,  who  in  the  resurrection  was  raised  up  in 
power,  and  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  they  find  their 
complete  fulfilment. 

And  when  He  again  bringeth  in  the  firstborn  into  the 
world,  He  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him. 
The  Psalm  speaks  of  Jehovah  coming  to  redeem  His  peojjle  : 
the  Son  is  so  one  with  the  Father,  that  as  the  Father  works 
only  through  Him,  and  can  only  be  known  in  Him,  the  worship 
can  only  arise  to  God  through  Him  too.  The  angels  worship 
the  deliverer  as  Jeho\  ah. 

Christ  is  the  Son  of  God !  What  does  this  mean  to  us,  and 
what  is  the  blessing  it  brings  our  faith  ?  It  points  us  first  to 
the  great  mystery  that  God  has  a  Son.  This  is  the  mystery 
of  divine  love  ;  and  that  in  a  double  sen.se.  J^ecause  God  is 
love  He  begets  a  Son,  to  whom   He  gives  all   He  is  and  has 


Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail  53 


Himself,  in  whose  fellowship  He  finds  His  life  and  delight, 
through  whom  He  can  reveal  Himself,  with  whom  He  shares  the 
worship  of  all  His  creatures.  And  because  God  is  love,  this 
Son  of  God  becomes  the  Son  of  Man,  and  the  Son  of  Man, 
having  been  perfected  for  evermore,  enters  through  death  and 
resurrection  into  all  the  glor\'  that  belonged  to  the  Son  of  God. 
And  now  this  Son  of  God  is  to  us  the  revelation,  the  bearer,  of 
the  love  of  the  divine  Being.  In  Him  the  love  of  God  dwells 
in  us ;  in  Him  we  enter  and  rest  in  it.  When  God  speaks  to 
us  in  this  His  Son,  it  is  the  infinite  love  imparting  itself  to  us, 
becoming  the  inward  life  of  our  life. 

And  if  we  ask  how  this  can  be  done,  our  answer  is  the 
second  great  lesson  taught  us  by  the  truth  that  Christ  is  the 
Son  of  God !  It  was  b}-  being  begotten  of  God,  by  a  divine 
birth,  that  Christ  became  the  Son.  In  eternity  it  was  a  birth ; 
in  the  resurrection  it  was  a  birth  from  the  dead.  And  so  it  is 
only  by  a  divine  birth  that  the  Son,  that  the  love  of  God,  can 
enter  and  possess  us.  It  is  by  an  eternal  generation  that  the 
Son  is  God.  In  eternity  there  is  no  past ;  what  God  is  and 
does  is  all  in  the  infinite  power  of  an  ever-present  now.  And 
so  it  is  in  the  power  of  that  eternal  generation  that  the  Father 
begetteth  us  in  His  Son  (i  John  v.  1-18),  and  begetteth  His 
Son  in  us ;  that  the  Father  speaks  the  eternal  Word  to  us  and 
in  us.  T//e  Word  of  God  is  the  Son,  coming  from  the  heart  of 
the  Father,  spoken  into  our  hearts,  and  dwelling  there.  The 
Son  is  the  Love  of  God ;  as  the  Son,  so  the  Love  of  God  is 
begotten  within  us,  making  us,  by  a  new  birth,  partakers  of  its 
own  nature  and  blessedness. 

If  we  would  learn  the  lesson  of  the  Epistle,  and  experience 
in  our  Christian  life  the  full  power  of  the  everlasting  redemp- 
tion, we  must  above  all  learn  to  know  Jesus  better.     The  general 


54  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


knowledge  we  had  of  Him  before  and  at  conversion  is  not 
enough  for  a  strong  and  heahhy  growth.  God  desires  that  we 
come  to  a  close  friendship,  to  an  intimate  acquaintance,  with 
His  beloved  Son,  that  we  should  be  the  loving,  happy  witnesses 
of  how  completely  He  can  save.  Let  us  do  so.  Remembering 
that  angels  and  prophets  could  only  point  to  Him  who  was  to 
come,  that  the  words  of  Scripture,  and  even  of  Christ  Himself, 
only  profit  as  they  waken  the  expectancy  of  something 
higher,  let  us  wait  on  God  to  speak  in  His  Son  to  us.  God's 
speaking  in  us  will  be  a  mighty  act  of  creative  power,  a  birth 
of  His  lo\e  within  us. 

O  God  !  teach  us  that  the  blessed  secret  of  a  full  salvation 
is  this  —  Christ,  our  Saviour,  is  t/iv  Son  0/  God 

1.  Christ,  the  Son  of  God's  love  :  in  His  heart  and  in  mine. 

2.  "  Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him. "  All  the  servants  around  His  throne  point  to  Him  : 
it  is  to  Him  we  must  look.  And  that  in  worship.  It  is  worship,  worship,  worship,  the  Son  must 
have.  It  is  to  the  heart  that  worships  Him  He  will  make  Himself  known.  Let  our  study  of  the 
glory  of  Christ  in  the  Epistle  be  all  in  the  spirit  of  wor.'ihip,  all  tend  to  make  us  fall  down  in 
adoring  worship. 

3.  The  Son  is  a  Son  only  in  the  power  of  a  divine  birth.  And  that  not  only  in  eternity,  and 
in  the  resurrection,  but  in  our  heart  too.  This  is  the  mystery  of  the  divine  life :  let  us 
bow  in  deep  impotence  and  ignorance,  and  wait  on  God  Almighty  to  reveal  the  Son  to  ua. 

4.  The  Son  is  the  Word,  because  the  divine  speaking  is  but  another  aspect  of  the  divine 
begetting.  Speaking  to  us  in  His  Son  is  all  in  the  power  of  a  divine  life.  The  speaking,  just  as 
the  begetting,  is  love  imparting  and  communicating  itself  in  divine  power  as  an  inward  life.  It 
is  by  God  speaking  to  us  in  the  First  Begotten  that  we  are  begotten  of  God. 


Zbc  ifjoUcst  of  ail 


VII. 

THE  SON  HIMSELF  GOD. 

I.— 7.  And  of  the  angels  he  saith, 

Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits, 

And  his  ministers  a  flame  of  fire :  (Ps.  civ.  4). 

8.  But  of  the  Son  he  saith, 

Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever; 

And  the  sceptre  of  uprightness  is  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom. 

9.  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness,  and  hated  iniquity ; 

Therefore  God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee 

With  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows  (Ps.  xlv.  7, 8). 

In  contra.st  to  what  is  said  of  the  angels  as  servants,  the  Holy 
Spirit  hath  said  of  the  Son,  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and 
ever.  Christ  is  not  only  the  Son,  but  is  God.  He  is  one  with 
the  Fatiier :  as  Son  He  is  partaker  of  the  Father's  own  nature 
and  being. 

Christ  is  God:  to  many  Christians  this  has  been  a  dead 
article  of  faith,  held  fast  and  proved  out  of  Scripture,  but  with- 
out any  living  influence  on  the  soul.  To  the  true  believer  it 
is  one  of  the  deepest  and  most  precious  truths  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  inner  life.  Christ  is  God :  the  soul  worships  Him 
as  the  Almighty  One,  able  to  do  a  divine  work  in  the  power  of 
divine  omnipotence.  Christ  is  God:  even  as  God  works  in 
all  nature  from  within,  and  in  secret,  so  the  soul  trusts  Christ 
as  the  everywhere  present  and  the  Indwelling  One,  doing  His 
saving  work  in  the  hidden  depths  of  its  being.  Christ  is  God : 
in  Him  we  come  into  living  contact  with  the  person  and  life  of 


56  zbc  Ibolic^t  of  ail 


God  Himself.  The  truth  lies  at  the  foundation  of  our  Epistle, 
and  the  Christian  life  it  would  build  up  :   CJwist  is  God. 

Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever.  As  God,  Christ 
is  King :  the  throne  of  heaven  belongs  to  Him.  When  an 
earthl}'  father  has  begotten  a  son,  they  may  be  separated  from 
each  other  by  great  distance,  both  in  place  and  character,  and 
know  each  other  no  more.  In  the  divine  Being  it  is  not  so. 
The  Father  and  the  Son  are  inseparable,  one  in  life  and  love  ; 
all  that  the  Father  is  and  has,  the  Son  is  and  has  too.  The 
Father  is  ever  in  the  Son,  and  the  Son  in  the  Father.  God 
is  on  the  throne  and  Christ  in  Him :  the  throne  and  the 
kingdom  are  Christ's  too. 

For  ever  and  ever.  C/irisi  is  the  King  eternal.  His 
dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion.  The  full  meaning  of  the 
word  eternal  will  becoine  clear  to  us  later  on.  Eternal  is  that 
which  each  moment  and  always  exists  in  its  full  strength, 
immoveable,  unchangeable.  "  We  receive  a  kingdom  that 
cannot  be  moved,"  because  our  King  is  God,  and  His  kingdom 
for  ever  and  ever.  The  rule  of  Christ  our  Priest-King,  even 
now,  in  our  souls,  is  in  the  power  of  an  endless,  an  imperishable 
life  :  the  faith  that  receives  this  will  experience  it. 

And  the  sceptre  of  uprightness  is  the  sceptre  of  Thy 
kingdom.  Christ  is  a  righteous  King:  He  is  Melchizcdck,  the 
King  of  Righteousness.  In  His  kingdom  all  is  righteousness 
and  holiness.  There  "  grace  reigns  through  righteousness." 
It  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  in  it  the  will  of  God  is  done  on 
earth  as  in  heaven.  And  wiien  it  is  farther  said,  Thou  hast 
loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity,  wc  are  reminded  that 
the  righteousness  is  not  only  His  as  a  divine  attribute,  but 
His  too  as  the  fruit  of  His  life  on  earth.  There  He  was  tested, 
and  tried,  and  perfected,  and  found  worthy  as  man  to  sit  upon 


Zbe  "Iboliest  of  mi  57 


the  throne  of  God.  The  throne  which  belonged  to  Him,  as  Son 
of  God  and  heir  of  all  things,  He  had  as  Son  of  Man  to  win. 
And  now  He  reigns  over  His  people,  teaching  them  by  His 
own  example,  enabling  them  by  His  own  Spirit  to  fulfil  all 
righteousness.  As  the  King  of  Righteousness  He  rules  over  a 
righteous  people. 

Therefore  God,  Thy  God,  hath  anointed  Thee  with  the  oil 
of  joy  above  Thy  fellows.  He  7S  aji  anointed  King.  Therefore, 
because  He  loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity,  therefore 
God  anointed  Him.  When  He  ascended  to  heaven,  and  sat 
down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne,  He  received  from  the 
Father  anew  and  in  fullest  measure,  as  the  Son  of  Man,  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  bestow  on  His  people  (Acts  ii.  33).  That 
Spirit  was  to  Him  the  oil  of  joy,  the  joy  that  had  been  set 
before  him,  the  joy  of  His  crowning  day  when  He  saw  of  the 
travail  of  His  soul.  An  anointing  above  His  fellows,  for  there 
was  none  like  Him  ;  God  gave  Him  the  Spirit  without  measure. 
And  yet  for  His  fellows,  His  redeemed,  whom,  as  Head,  He 
had  made  members  of  His  body.  They  become  partakers  of 
His  anointing  and  His  joy.  As  He  said,  "  The  Lord  hath 
anointed  Me  to  give  the  oil  of  joy."  Christ,  our  King,  our  God, 
is  anointed  with  the  oil  of  joy,  anointed,  too,  to  give  the;  oil  of 
joy  :  His  kingdom  is  one  of  everlasting  gladness,  of  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glorj-. 

O  ye  souls,  redeemed  by  Christ,  behold  your  God !  the 
Son  in  whom  the  Father  speaks.  Let  this  be  the  chief  thing 
you  live  for — to  know,  to  honour,  to  serve  your  God  and  King. 
This  is  the  Son  in  whom  God  speaks  to  you  in  all  the  divine 
mystery,  but  also  in  all  the  divine  power  and  blessing,  which 
marks  all  God's  speaking.  Let  our  hearts  open  wide  to  receive 
the  Kins  God  hath  eiven  us. 


58  XLbc  Uoliest  of  ail 


And  as  often  as  we  are  tempted  with  the  Hebrews  to  sloth 
or  fear  or  unbelief,  let  this  be  our  watchword  and  our  strength : 
A/_y  Redeemer  is  God !  In  this  faith  let  me  worship  Him.  My 
Redeemer  is  God !  let  my  whole  heart  be  opened  to  Him,  to 
receive,  as  a  flower  does  the  light  of  the  sun.  His  secret,  mighty, 
divine  working  in  me.  My  Redeemer  is  God !  let  me  trust  this 
omnipotent  Lord  to  work  out  in  me  His  every  promise,  and  to 
set  up  His  throne  of  righteousness  in  my  soul  in  a  power  that  is 
above  all  we  ask  or  think.  My  Redeemer  is  God !  let  me  wait 
for  Him,  let  me  count  upon  Him,  to  reveal  Himself  in  the  love 
that  passeth  knowledge.  Blessed  be  the  name  of  God  for  ever 
and  e\er  :  My  RedeeDier  is  God ! 

1.  Who  in  God?  And  what  is  God  to  us?  "He  in  whom  we  Hue  and  move  and  have  our 
being."  He  is  the  life  of  the  universe.  And  how  wonderfully  perfect  all  that-  life  is  in  nature. 
When  we  know  this  God  as  our  Redeemer,  "in  whom  we  Hue  and  move  and  have  our  being  "  in 
a  higher  sense,  what  an  assurance  that  He  will  make  His  new  life  in  us  as  wonderful  and  perfect. 

2.  "Thn'i  hiist  loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity,  therefore  "...  This  was  His  way  to 
the  throne  ;  this  is  the  only  way  for  us,  living  and  doing  right,  and  hating  everything  that  is  sin. 


^Tbe  IboKcst  of  ail  59 


VIII. 

THE   SON-THE   EVERLASTING  CREATOR. 

I.    10.  And, 

Thou,  Lord,   in    the   beginning  hast  laid    the  foundation  of  the 
earth, 

And  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  thy  hands : 

11.  They  shall  perish;  but  thou  continuest: 

And  they  all  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment; 

12.  And  as  a  mantle  shalt  thou  roll  them  up. 
As  a  garment,  and  they  shall  be  changed : 
But  thou  art  the  same. 

And  thy  years  shall  not  fail  (Ps.  cli.  26,  27). 

Come  and  hearken  once  more  to  what  the  divine  mei^sage  has 
to  tell  us  of  the  glory  of  the  Son,  in  whom  the  Father  speaks 
to  us.  Come  and  see  how  truly  He  is  one  with  God,  and 
shares  with  him  all  His  glory.  The  deeper  our  insight  into  the 
true  Godhead  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  His  perfect  oneness 
with  God,  the  more  confident  shall  we  be  that  He  will,  in  a 
divine  power,  make  us  partakers  of  His  work,  His  life,  His 
indwelling. 

We  find  Christ  here  set  before  us  as  the  Creator,  to  whom 
all  owes  its  existence,  as  the  everlasting  and  unchangeable  One, 
to  whom  alone,  when  all  waxeth  old  and  perisheth,  can  be 
said,  Thou  continuest;  Thou  art  the  same;  Thy  years  shall 
not  fail.  In  Isaiah  God  speaks  of  Himself:  "Hast  thou  not 
heard,  the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends 
of  the  earth  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary."  In  our  text  we  see 
the  Son  as  the  Almighty  Creator,  the  everlastingly  unchange- 


«o  Zbc  iboliest  ot  ail 


able  One,  tliat  wc  may  know  who  it  is  through  whom  God 
speaks  to  us,  and  to  whom  Me  has  intrusted  the  work  of  our 
salvation. 

The  words  are  taken  from  Ps.  cii.  The  ordinary  reader 
would  not  think  that  the  Messiah  or  the  Son  was  here  spoken 
of  But,  taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  our  writer  sees  how  all 
redemption  is  wrought  only  through  the  Son,  and  how,  there- 
fore, the  building  up  of  Zion  and  the  appearing  in  His  glory 
(ver.  16),  the  looking  down  from  the  sanctuary  and  the  loosing 
those  who  are  appointed  unto  death  (ver.  20),  all  points  to  the 
Son  as  Redeemer.  And  then  what  follows  is  true  of  Him 
too.  It  is  :  "  Thou  hast  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and 
the  heavens  are  the  work  of  Thy  hands :  they  shall  perish, 
but  Thou  shalt  endure."  God  is  the  Almighty  and  everlasting  : 
these  are  the  attributes  of  Him  to  whom  our  salvation  is 
entrusted. 

Listen,  believer!  Christ,  thy  Redeemer,  is  the  Almighty 
One.  God  saw  that  none  but  His  Son  could  meet  thy  need  : 
hast  thou  so  seen  it,  too,  that  this.  His  almighty  power,  has 
been  claimed  and  appropriated  for  thy  daily  life?  Hast  thou 
learnt  never  to  think  of  Him  otherwise  than  as  the  One  who 
calleth  the  things  that  are  not  as  though  they  were,  and 
creates  what  otherwise  could  tiot  be  ? 

Christ,  thy  Redeemer,  is  the  everlasting  and  unchangeable 
One:  hast  thou  heard  Him  speak?  "I,  Jehovah,  change  not; 
therefore  ye  are  not  consumed,"  and  learnt  to  trust  Him  as  the 
One  who  is  each  moment  to  thee  all  that  He  can  be,  and  who 
will,  without  \ariation  or  shadow  of  turning,  maintain  in  never- 
ceasing  power  His  life  within  thee?  Oh  learn  that  God  saw  it 
needful  to  speak  to  thee  through  none  other  than  such  a  One  as 
could  reach  the  heart  and  fill  it  with  the  power  of  His  eternal 


XLbe  -ffjolicst  of  mi  6i 


Word.  The  Almighty  Son,  through  whom  God  hath  created  all 
things,  who  upholdeth  and  filleth  all  things  by  the  word  of  His 
power  ;  this  is  He  who  will  even  so,  in  the  power  of  His  Godhead, 
uphold  and  fill  thy  whole  life  and  being.  Thy  Creator  is  thy 
Redeemer !  One  great  cause  of  feebleness  and  backsliding  in 
the  Christian  life  is  the  power  of  circumstances.  We  often  say 
that  temptations  that  come  to  us  from  our  position  in  life,  from 
the  struggle  to  live,  from  the  conduct  of  our  fellow-men,  dravy 
us  away  from  God,  and  are  the  cause  of  our  falling  into  sin.  If 
we  but  believed  that  our  Redeemer  is  our  Creator !  He  knows 
us  ;  He  appoints  and  orders  our  lot ;  nothing  that  comes  to  usi 
but  what  He  has  in  His  hands.  He  has  the  power  to  make  our 
circumstances,  however  difficult,  a  heavenly  discipline,  a  gain: 
and  a  blessing.  He  has  taken  them  all  up  into  the  life-planj 
He  has  for  us  as  Redeemer.  Did  we  but  believe  this,  how  wef 
should  gladly  meet  every  event  with  the  worship  of  an  adoring 
faith.  My  Creator,  who  orders  all,  is  my  Redeemer,  who 
blesses  all. 

And  now  let  me  once  again  urge  my  reader  to  mark  well 
the  lesson  this  chapter  is  teaching  us  and  the  object  it  has  in 
view.  Let  no  one  think,  as  I  myself  long  thought,  that,  because 
we  firmly  believe  in  the  divinity  of  our  Saviour,  this  chapter, 
with  its  proof-texts,  has  no  special  message  for  our  spiritual  life, 
and  that  we  may  therefore  hasten  on  to  what  the  Epistle  has  to 
teach  farther  on.  No,  let  us  remember  that  this  is  the  founda- 
tion chapter.  The  divinity  of  Christ  is  the  rock  on  which  we 
rest.  It  is  in  virtue  of  His  divinity  that  He  effected  a  real 
cleansing  and  putting  away  of  sin,  that  He  can  actually  com- 
municate and  maintain  the  divine  life  in  us,  that  He  can  enter 
into  our  inmost  being,  and  dwell  there.  If  we  open  our  hearts 
and  give  them  time  to  receive  the  full  impression  of  the  truth, 


«'2  Cbc  iboUctJt  of  ail 


we  shall  sec  that  all  that  we  are  to  learn  of  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ  has  its  value  and  its  power  from  this — that  He  is  God. 
Our  Creator,  from  whom  we  have  our  life — it  is  He  who  alone 
can  enter  into  us  to  give  the  new  life  ;  it  is  He,  blessed  be  His 
name,  who  will  do  it  now.  As  God,  He  is  the  hidden  ground 
of  all  existence,  and  has  the  power  to  enter  all  and  fill  it  with 
Himself  Every  part  of  His  work  has  the  character  and  the 
power  of  a  cli\'ine  work.  If  we  would  but  believe  that  Christ 
the  Son  is  God,  is  Jehovah,  the  Eternal,  the  Creator,  how  He 
would  make  our  inner  life  the  proof  of  His  Almighty  power! 

Paul  said  :  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord."  Let  us  do  so,  too. 
In  the  Christian  life  the  chief  thing,  the  one  thing  needful,  is  the 
knowledge  of  Christ.  Not  the  intellectual  apprehewsion  of  the 
truth,  but  the  living  experimental  heart  knowledge  that  comes 
from  faith  and  fellowship  with  Him,  from  love  and  obedience. 
May  it  be  ours  ! 

h  God  is  the  incomprchrnsibtc  One.  In  all  thy  thoughts  of  Him.  in  all  thy  efforts  to  know 
Him  as  reucaled  in  Christ,  remember  the  true  knowledge  of  God  is  something  above  sense  and 
reason.  As  the  light  reveals  itself  to  the  open  eye  that  has  been  created  for  it,  God  reveals 
Himself  to  the  longing  heart.  All  the  teaching  of  angels  and  prophets,  of  the  words  and  the 
truths  of  the  Bible,  can  but  point  the  way  ;  let  God  in  Christ  speak  in  thy  heart.  Then  shalt 
thou  know  Him.  Bow  in  adoring  awe,  and  worship  Christ.  "Let  all  His  saints  worship  Him. 
It  Is  worship,  not  study,  will  prepare  us  to  know  Christ. " 

2.  They  shall  perish :  they  all  shall  wax  old :  this  is  what  the  creature  is,  even  though 
created  by  God,  with  every  experience,  even  though  coming  from  God.  Thou  continuest ;  thou 
art  the  same :  this  it  our  security  and  our  joy.  Christ  my  Redeemer  is  the  unchangeable 
--every  moment  the  same,  my  Keeper  and  my  Life. 


ZbC  1l30UC5t  Of  mi  63 


IX. 

THE  SON-ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD. 

13.  But  of  which  of  the  angels  hath  he  said  at  any  time, 

Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand, 

Till  I  make  thy  enemies  the  footstool  of  thy  feet  (Ps.  ex.). 

14.  Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  do  service  for  the  sake 
of  them  that  shall  inherit  salvation  ? 

Sit  thou  on  My  right  hand,  till  I  make  Thy  enemies  the 
footstool  of  Thy  feet.  These  words  we  have  from  Psalm  ex. 
Luther  called  it  the  chief  of  all  the  Psalms.  The  first  verse, 
and  the  fourth  about  Melchizedek,  contain  the  hidden  mysteries, 
which  we  never  should  have  understood  without  the  exegesis  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  from  this  Psalm  that  the  expression, 
which  is  become  one  of  the  great  articles  of  our  faith,  Sitting' 
on  the  right  hand  of  God,  has  been  taken  into  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Our  Lord  quoted  the  words  when  he  taught  (Matt.  xxii. 
41)  how  David,  when  he  said,  "Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord  I' 
had  acknowledged  that  the  Messiah  w^ho  was  to  be  His  Son, 
would  also  be  his  Lord.  Before  Caiaphas  (Matt.  xxvi.  64)  Christ 
spoke  of  Himself  as  "  the  Son  of  Man,  sitting  at  the  right  hand 
of  power."  Mark  (xvi.  19)  in  the  narrative  of  the  ascension, 
uses  the  words,  "  The  Lord  Jesus  was  received  up  into  heaven, 
and  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God,"  At  Pentecost  (Acts 
ii.  35)  Peter  proved  from  this  text  that  David  had  prophesied  of 
the  Messiah.  Paul  (i  Cor.  xv.  25)  applies  the  words  to  the 
final  conquest  of  all  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  Jesus.     And  to 


(54  Zbc  Iboliwt  ot  Bl[ 


the  Ej^hcsiaiis  (chap.  i.  20-22)  he  speaks  of  the  "  workinij  of  the 
strength  of  God's  might,  which  He  wrought  in  Christ  when  Me 
raised  Him  from  the  dead,  and  made  Him  to  sit  at  His  right 
hand  in  the  heavenlies."  Our  Epistle  uses  the  expression  five 
times  (si-o-  Ref ).  The  words  of  David  spoken  through  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  what  he  could  but  very  little  have  apprehended,  became, 
through  Jesus  and  the  apostles,  the  revelation  of  what  is  the 
highest  glory  of  Christ,  and  the  greatest  strength  of  our  faith 
and  hope. 

The  word  suggests  two  thoughts.  The  one,  that  as  Son  of 
Man  He  is  admitted  to  the  perfect  fellowship  and  equality  with 
God  ;  the  other,  that  He  is  now  possessor  of  divine,  of  universal 
authority  and  power.  We  are  so  familiar  with  the  truth,  that  its 
infinite  magnificence  hardly  strikes  us.  God  is  a  .God  who  is, 
and  must  be,  infinitely  jealous  of  His  honour :  His  glory  He 
will  not  give  to  another.  When  Jesus,  the  crucified  Son  of 
Man,  takes  His  place  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high, 
it  can  only  be  because  He  is  also  the  Son  of  God,  because  He 
is  God.  And  it  assures  us  that  now  the  power  and  dominion 
of  God  Hiinsclf  are  in  His  hands,  to  carry  out  the  work  of 
redemption  to  its  full  consummation,  until  all  His  enemies  have 
been  put  under  His  feet,  and  He  shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom 
to  the  Father. 

When  the  writer  quotes  the  words,  it  is  with  the  question  : 
Of  which  of  the  angels  hath  He  said  at  any  time  ?  And  He 
gi\  es  the  answer :  Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits  sent 
forth  to  do  service  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  to  salvation  ? 
He  would  impress  deep  upon  us  the  thought  that  angels, 
though  they  come  from  God's  throne,  and  are  the  instruments 
of  His  power,  are  still  infinitely  distinct  from  the  Son.  The 
redemption  from  sin,  the  true  fellowship  with  God.  the  life  and 


XLbc  Iboliest  of  ail  65 


the  love  of  God  they  cannot  communicate.  It  is  the  Son, 
sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  acting  in  the  power  of  God,  to 
whom  we  must  look  for  the  everlasting  redemption,  for  the  true 
inward  deliverance  from  sin,  for  a  complete  salvation.  The 
angels,  by  contrast,  all  point  us  to  the  Son,  seated  as  Man  on 
the  throne,  in  proof  of,  and  to  impart,  that  perfect  restoration  to 
the  fellow.ship  of  the  Most  High  in  the  Most  Holy  Place. 

This  is  the  Son  in  whom  God  speaks  to  us.  The  word. 
Sit  thou  on  My  right  hand,  is  spoken  in  our  hearing  and  in  our 
behoof  In  that  word  we  have  concentrated  all  God's  speaking. 
See,  He  says,  how  I  have  exalted  Him,  your  Brother,  your 
Surety,  your  Head,  to  my  right  hand,  in  token  of  My  perfect 
acceptance  of  His  work  ;  your  perfect  admittance  to  My 
presence  and  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  power  of  the  heavenly 
life  ;  your  full  participation,  in  your  inmost  being,  of  what  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is.  Sit  thou  on  My  right  hand:  let  the 
word  enter  and  master  all  our  heart  and  life.  I  have  said  that  it 
occurs  five  times  in  the  Epistle.  Compare  these  passages,  and 
the  others  having  reference  to  Christ's  place  in  heaven  (se£:  Ref 
i.  3),  and  observe  how  the  great  truth  we  are  to  learn  is  this :  the 
knowledge  of  Jesus  as  having  entered  heaven  for  us,  and  taken 
us  in  union  with  Himself  into  a  heavenly  life,  is  what  will  deliver 
the  Christian  from  all  that  is  low  and  feeble,  and  lift  him  to  a 
life  of  joy  and  strength.  To  gaze  upon  the  heavenly  Christ  in 
the  Father's  presence,  to  whom  all  things  are  subject,  will 
transform  us  into  heavenly  Christians,  dwelling  all  the  day  in 
God's  presence,  and  overcoming  every  enemy.  Yes,  my 
Redeemer,  seated  at  God's  right  hand — if  I  only  know  Him 
aright  and  trust  Him  as  able  to  save  completely — He  will 
make  me  more  than  conqueror. 

If  we  would  obtain  this  blessed  knowledge  of  our  Lord,  and 
5 


66  XLbc  fjoliest  ot  Bll 


the  blessed  life  in  the  experience  of  His  power,  Scripture  has 
a  prayer  for  us  (Eph.  i.  17-22),  that  we  will  do  well  to  pray 
often:  "That  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  would  give  us  the 
spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation,  that  we  may  know  what  is  t/ie 
exceedhig  greatness  of  His  power  to  iis-ward  zuho  believe,  accord- 
ing to  that  ivorking  of  tJie  strength,  of  His  might  which  Me 
wrought  in  Christ,  when  He  made  Hivi  to  sit  at  His  right  hand 
in  the  heaveu/ies."  Let  us  pray  for  this  spirit  of  divine 
illumination  ;  let  us  study  and  adore  the  strength  of  God's 
might  that  lifted  Him  to  the  throne;  and  let  us  believe  joyfuU)', 
that  that  power  works  in  us  every  day  to  lift  us  up  and  enable 
us  to  live  as  those  who  are  set  with  Him  in  the  heavenlies. 
And  let  us  sing  without  ceasing  :  Praised  be  God  for  such  a 
Saviour  ! 

7.  "Now  the  chief  point  is  this:  We  have  such  an  High  Priest  who  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  on  high"  (viii.  1).  Yes,  this  is  the  chief  point :  Jesus  in 
heaven,  lieeping  it  open  for  me,  drawing  me  to  enter  into  the  Holiest,  and  keeping  me  in  it ; 
sending  down  heaven  into  my  lieart. 

2.  "He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended  far  above  all  the  heavens,  that  He 
might  fill  all  things."  On  earth  everything  is  limited  by  space  and  matter,  in  heaven  all  is  in 
a  divine,  allpcrvading  power.  As  the  light  of  the  sun  pervades  all  the  air,  the  light  and  spirit 
of  heaven  can  fill  all  our  heart.     The  heavenly  Christ  fills  all  things. 

3.  See  how  they  worship  Him  who  sits  on  the  throne  in  heaven  {Rev.  v.  8-74,  vii.  9-12), 
and  let  every  thought  of  Jesus  on  the  throne  lead  to  worship.  It  was  as,  during  ten  days,  the 
disciples  worshipped  Him  that  had  Just  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  that  they  were  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Pentecostal  gift  is  ours  :  here  is  the  place  and  the  posture  in  which  we 
shall  enter  into  its  full  experience. 


TLbe  Iboliest  of  au  67 


THE  FIRST  WARNING. 

Chap.  ii.  1-4. 

To  take  heed  to  what  the  Son  speaks  (1-4). 


X. 

THE  DANGER  OF  NEGLECTING  SO  GREAT  SALVATION. 

II.— 1.  Therefore  we  ought  to  give  more  earnest  ^  heed  to  the  things  that 
were  heard  lest  haply  we  drift  away. 

2.  For  if  the  word  spoken  through  angels  proved  stedfast,  and  every 
transgression  and  disobedience  received  a  just  recompense  of  reward ; 

3.  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  which  having  at 
the  first  been  spoken  through  the  Lord,  was  confirmed  unto  us  by  them 
that  heard; 

4.  God  also  bearing  witness  with  them,  both  by  signs  and  wonders,  and 
by  manifold  powers,  and  by  gifts "  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  his  own  will. 

The  first  chapter  has  set  before  u.s  the  divine  glory  of  Christ 
the  Son,  in  whom  God  hath  spoken  to  us  in  these  days.  In  the 
second  the  humanity  and  the  humih"ation  of  Jesus  are  to  be 
unfolded.  Ere  the  writer  proceeds  to  this,  he  pauses  to  sound 
a  note  of  warning.  He  reminds  his  readers  of  the  greater 
responsibility  and  greater  danger  in  case  of  neglect,  which 
greater  privileges  bring,  and  to  urge  them  to  take  more  earnest, 
more  abundant  heed  to  what  God  is  speaking  in  His  Son. 

1  Abundant.  -  Marg.,  Distributions. 


«8  Cbc  1)01(001  of  mi 


iVl.   I' 


Therefore,  this  is  the  link  between  the  teaching  of  chap, 
i.  with  regard  to  the  Godhead  and  glory  of  the  Son,  and  the 
warning  that  now  comes.  The  cxcrlasting  God  speaks  to  us  in 
His  Son  ;  we  surely  ought  to  give  more  abundant  heed. 

More  abundant  heed  :  it  is  the  same  word  as  is  used  in  chap. 

■7.  "  God  being  minded  to  shew  more  abundantly  unto  the 
heirs  of  the  promise,  the  immutability  of  His  counsel."  In  what 
God  speaks  and  does,  it  is  all  with  the  desire  to  show  to  us 
Viore  abundantly,  in  full  and  overflowing  measure,  what  the 
purpose  of  His  heart  is.  It  is  for  this  He  speaks  in  none  less 
than  His  own  Son.  He  has  a  right  to  claim  that  we  meet  Him 
with  a  corresponding  whole-heartedness,  and  give  more  abundant 
lieed  to  what  He  speaks.  Nothing  less  will  satisfy  Him ; 
nothing  less,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  will  satisf)^  us,  because 
nothing  less  than  man's  more  abundant  heed  is  capable  of 
receiving  God's  more  abundant  grace.  It  is  the  lack  of  this 
taking  more  earnest  heed,  the  lack  of  intense  earnestness,  giving 
God  and  religion  the  first  place  and  the  best  powers  of  our  life, 
which  is  at  the  root  of  the  feebleness  and  sickliness  of  the 
Christian  life.  God  is  speaking  to  us  in  His  Son,  therefore  we 
oi^g/it  to  take  more  abundant  heed. 

Lest  haply  we  drift  away — and  perish  more  surely  and 
more  terribly  than  those  who  sinned  under  the  Old  Testament. 
There  the  word  spoken,  with  its  threatening,  was  stedfast, 
and  every  transgression  was  punished.  How  shall  we  escape, 
if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  The  gospel  does  not.  as  so 
many  think,  lessen — it  increases  our  danger.  It  does  not 
diminish,  but  will  terribly  intensify,  the  soreness  of  the  punish- 
ment in  those  who  neglect  it.  Oh,  let  us  sound  out  the  warn- 
ing :  it  is  not  only  positive  enmity  or  open  sin  that  will  be 
punished.     No,  simply  "not  taking  earnest  heed,"  just  "drifting 


^be  I[30lie3t  of  ail  69 


away "  unconsciously  with  the  current  of  vvorldliness  and  half- 
hearted religion,  "  neglecting "  to  give  the  great  salvation  that 
supremacy,  that  entire  devotion  which  it  claims, — it  is  this  which 
will  render  escape  impossible. 

And  why  ?  How  can  we  show  men  that  it  is  right  and  meet 
that  it  should  be  so  ?  And  what  is  the  motive  that  will  stir 
men  to  take  heed  ?  The  answer  is  in  the  one  word  :  So  great 
salvation.  The  insight  into  the  more  abundant  glory,  the 
divine,  the  all-surpassing  greatness  of  this  salvation,  is  what 
will  compel  men  willingly  and  joyfully  to  give  up  all  and  buy 
this  pearl  of  great  price. 

And  wherein  does  the  greatness  of  this  salvation  consist?  In 
this  that  it  comes  to  us  from  and  through  THE  TRIUNE  GOD  ; 
the  Holy  Trinity  is  revealed  as  combining  to  work  out  this 
salvation  for  us.  Listen.  "  So  great  salvation,  xvhich  having  at 
the  first  been  spoken  by  the  Lord,  was  confirmed  unto  us  by  them 
that  heard."  Christ  the  Son,  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory,  and  the  express  image  of  His  substance,  it  was  He  in 
whom  God  spoke  to  us  ;  it  was  He,  the  Redeemer,  God  and 
King,  who  Himself  first  preached  the  kingdom  which  He 
established  when  He  effected  the  cleansing  of  our  sins,  and  sat 
down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne. 

So  great  salvation  !  First  spoken  by  the  Lord,  God  also  bear- 
ing witness  both  by  signs  and  wonders,  and  by  manifold  powers. 
God  the  Father  Himself  set  His  seal  from  heaven  on  the 
preaching  of  the  word.  The  existence  of  His  church  is  His 
standing  sign  and  wonder,  the  proof  of  His  divine  power.  Not 
to  take  heed,  to  neglect  the  great  salvation,  is  nothing  less  than 
despising  God  Himself 

God  also  bearing  witness,  by  distributions  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
according  to    His  own   will.     Not  only  did   God  bear  witness 


70  Zbc  -tooUcet  of  Bil 


to  the  great  salvation  by  signs  and  wonders  and  powers,  but 
above  all  by  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven.  The 
Iloly  Spirit  is  God  come  to  dwell  on  earth,  to  strive  and  plead 
and  testify  in  the  hearts  of  men.  There  is  no  fellowship  with 
the  Father  but  through  the  Son,  and  no  felloivship  luitli  the  Son 
and  His  salvation,  but  through  the.  Holy  Spirit  iti  us.  Let  us 
enter  the  study  of  Christ's  person  and  work  in  the  Epistle  in 
this  faith.  Yes,  this  is  the  greatness  of  the  great  salvation — 
in  its  offer  THE  Tiiree-One  God  comes  to  us.  The  Lord 
preached,  the  Father  bore  witness,  the  Holy  Spirit  came  as 
the  power  of  God  to  work.  What  a  sal\  ation  !  What  sin  to 
neglect  it !  May  God  re\eal  to  us,  as  we  study  this  Epistle, 
the  glory  of  the  so  great  sahation,  that  we  may  indeed  more 
abundantly  take  heed  to  it. 

7.  To  know  the  Son  who  speaks  and  reveals  the  Father ;  to  know  the  Father  to  whom,  and 
whose  loue,  the  Son  brings  us  in  ;  to  know  the  Holy  Spirit  with  His  wonderful  gifts  of  grace  and 
power;  to  be  restored  to  the  image  and  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Trinity:  this  is  salvation. 

2.  Let  every  thought  of  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  of  God,  and  of  the  Spirit,  and  of  the  great 
salvation  leave  this  one  impression :  Take  more  abundant  heed  to  what  you  heart  Meet  God's 
abounding  grace  with  abounding  desire  to  listen  and  believe. 

3.  To  the  preaching  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  God  bore  witness.  If  this  was  needful  then, 
how  much  more  now,  at  this  long  distance  from  those  days  of  heavenly  joy  and  power.  Ask, 
for  the  study  of  the  Word  in  the  Epistle,  that  God  bear  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Claim  and 
expect  it.     Without  this,  even  the  teaching  of  the  apostles  by  Christ  Himself  availed  little. 

4.  Once  again.  This  is  the  greatness  of  salvation  ;  the  everlasting  Father  in  His  love  speaks 
to  me  Himself  in  the  Son.  The  Son  shows  and  brings  and  gives  me  all  the  Father  speaks  ;  and  I 
have  the  Holy  Spirit  in  me,  fitting  me  to  hear  and  know  and  possess  and  enjoy  all  that  the 
Father  in  the  Son  speaks  and  gives.  Let  us,  above  all,  hold  this  fast  that  there  is  no  divine 
witness,  or  assurance,  or  experience  of  the  salvation  Christ  effected,  except  as  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  came  from  heaven,  communicates  and  maintains  it  within  us.  Let  us,  therefore,  take 
more  abundant  heed  to  the  Holy  Spirit  in  us,  in  whom  the  Father  and  the  Son  come  to  us. 


Cbe  -ffjoliest  of  ail  7i 


SECOND    SECTION.-ii.    5-18. 

Jesus,  even  in  His  humiliation  as  Man,  more  than  the  Angels. 
The  reason  of  His  humiliation. 


XI. 

THE  WORLD  MADE  SUBJECT  TO  MAN,  NOT  TO  ANGELS, 

II.— 5.  For  not  unto  angels  did  he  subject  the  world  to  come,  whereof  we 
speak. 

6.  But  one  hath  testified  somewhere,  saying  ;Ps.  viii.  5), 

What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? 
Or  the  Son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him  ? 

7.  Thou  madest  him  a  little  lower  than  the"angels; 
Thou  crownedst  him  with  glory  and  honour. 
And  didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  thy  hands : 

8.  Thou  didst  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet. 

For  in  that  he  subjected  all  things  to  him,  he  left  nothing  that  is  not 
subject  to  him.    But  now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected  to  him. 

9.  But  we  behold  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honour. 

As  the  Son  of  God  Christ  is  more  than  the  angels.  As  the 
Son  of  Man  Jesus  is  more  than  the  angels  too.  He  was  indeed, 
as  man,  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  and  yet,  because  to 
man  the  world  to  come,  of  which  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  the 
prophets  spake,  had  been  made  subject,  he  had  a  place  of  honour 
and  dominion  greatly  excelling  them.  Not  only  the  divinity 
but  the  humanity  of  Christ  Avill  prove  how  infinitely  superior  the 
new  dispensation  is  to  that  which  was  given  by  the  ministry  of 
angels. 


72  CbC  1l30l(e6t  of  Bll 


For  not  unto  angels  did  He  subject  the  world  to  come, 

that  world  to  which  the  Psalm  looks  forward,  the  kin<^dom  of 
the  Messiah,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth.  The  Psalm 
does  not  speak  directly  of  the  Messiah,  but  of  man  and  his 
destin)-.  But  it  is  applied  most  justly  to  the  Messiah,  because 
in  llim  the  Psalm  and  man  find  the  fulfilment  of  what  is 
promised. 

The  Psalmist  first  speaks  of  man's  littleness  and  the  wonder 
that  God  should  notice  him.  What  is  man  that  Thou  art 
mindful  of  him  ?  or  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  him  ? 
He  then  j:)oints  out  how  high  the  ])lacc  is  whicli  man  occupies. 
His  nature  is  little  less  than  divine.  Thou  madest  Him  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels ;  Thou  crownedst  him  with  glory 
and  honour.  And  universal  dominion  is  assigned  to  Him. 
Thou  didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  thy  hands.  Thou  didst 
put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet.  Our  Papistic  points 
out  how  this  promise,  though  not  yet  true  of  man,  has  received 
its  fulfilment  in  Jesus.  Now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  sub- 
jected to  man,  but  we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and 
honour.  What  was  true  of  man  in  promise,  we  see  fulfilled 
in  Jesus  :  what  we  see  in  Jesus,  will  be  made  true  of  man. 
What  wonderful  thoughts  the  Psalm  suggests. 

Ho7v  glorious  is  the  destiny  of  man  !  Created  in  the  image 
of  God,  he  was  to  bear  God's  likeness  in  this  too,  that  as  king  he 
was  to  be  ruler  of  all.  The  whole  world  to  come  was  matle  sub- 
ject to  him.  Man  has  rccci\  ed  from  God  a  life,  a  nature,  a  spirit, 
capable  of  i)art.iking  of  His  own  life  and  spirit.  His  will  and 
His  holine.ss,  capable  of  likeness  to  and  fellowship  with  Himself, 
even  to  the  sitting  on  His  throne,  and  sharing  with  llim  the 
dominion  o\er  all  creation.     What  a  destiny! 

Hoiv  gloriously  ice   see   that    destiny  fulfilled  in  Jesus !     1 1 


trbe  1f3oIiest  ot  Bll  73 


was  because  man  had  been  created  with  a  nature  capable  of 
such  a  destiny,  that  the  Son  of  God  could  become  man,  and 
not  count  it  unworthy  of  His  divine  glory  Himself  to  work  out 
that  destiny.  He  came  and  proved  what  the  life  of  man  was 
meant  to  be — how  humility  and  subjection  to  God  were  the 
sure  path  to  glory  and  honour.  He  came  and  glorified  a  life 
of  humiliation  as  the  training-school  for  the  exaltation  to  the 
right  hand  of  God  ;  fulfilling  man's  destiny  in  Himself  as  Son 
of  Man,  He,  as  Son  of  God,  fulfilled  it  for  us  too. 

Hoiv  gloriously  and  certainly  man's  destiny  will  yet  be 
realised !  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Man,  came  as  the  Second  Adam. 
He  stands  to  us  in  a  relation  as  close,  as  real,  as  intimate,  as 
Adam  did.  As  complete  as  was  Adam's  communication  of  a 
sinful  nature  will  be  His  impartation  of  a  new,  of  His  own 
nature.  As  Son  of  God,  Creator  and  Upholder  of  all,  in  whom 
all  things  consist,  He  has  a  divine  power  of  living  within  us 
with  all  that  He  was  in  Himself.  His  humanity  is  the  revela- 
tion of  what  we  can  be  ;  His  divinity  the  pledge  that  wc 
can  be  it.  We  see  not  yet  all  things  subject  to  man,  but, 
and  that  is  enough,  we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and 
honour. 

It  was  by  His  union  with  us  in  our  life  in  the  flesh,  by  His 
identifying  Himself  with  our  nature,  that  Jesus  was  able  to 
claim  and  to  work  out  and  enter  into  possession  of  the  glory 
God  had  promised  to  man.  It  is  by  our  receiving  His  nature, 
and  identifying  ourselves  with  Him  in  this  life  on  earth  and 
in  heaven,  that  what  He  has  achieved  for  us  can  really  become 
ours.  Let  us  here,  at  the  very  outset  of  our  Epistle,  get  well 
hold  of  the  truth  that  what  Christ  does  for  as  our  Leader,  our 
Priest,  our  Redeemer,  is  not  anything  external.  All  that  God 
works  in  nature,  in    heaven  or  on  earth,  in   the  stars  or  in  the 


JTbc  tjolicst  ot  an 


trees,  He  does  from  within,  by  laws  that  pervade  their  whole 
existence.  All  that  Adam  wrought  in  us  is  from  within,  by 
a  power  that  rules  our  inmost  life.  And  all  that  Christ  does 
for  us,  whether  as  Son  of  God  or  Son  of  Man,  is  equally  and 
entirely  a  work  done  within  us.  It  is  when  we  know  that  He 
is  one  with  us  and  we  with  Him,  even  as  was  the  case  with 
Adam,  that  we  shall  know  how  truly  our  destiny  will  be  realised 
in  Him.  His  oneness  with  us  is  the  pledge,  our  oneness  with 
Him  the  power,  of  our  redemption. 

7.  Thy  destiny,  0  man,  is  to  sit  with  Jesus  on  His  throne.  Live  as  one  preparing  for  it.  Culti- 
vate a  royal  spirit.     Abide  in  Him  :  He  will  abide  in  thee. 

2.  The  world  made  subject  to  man.  How  terrible  the  ruin  of  sin,  by  which  man  was  made 
subject  to  the  world.  Its  hing  became  its  slave,  and  is  so  just  when  he  appears  most  to  master  it. 
Christ  teaches  us  to  conquer  the  world  by  denying  it ;  to  hold  it  in  subjection  by  not  being  of  it. 
It  is  in  the  path  of  humiliation  and  self-denial  alone  that  man's  destiny  can  be  realised. 

3.  The  Epistle  has  two  things  to  show  us  in  Jesus,  as  inseparably  connected :  the  place  of 
glory  where  He  is  now ;  the  path  of  humiliation  that  brought  Him  there.  Make  it  thy  care  to  follow 
Christ  in  His  humility  ;  He  will  mahc  it  His  care  to  bring  thee  to  His  glory. 

4.  Study  to  sec  the  intimate  connection,  the  real  unity  between  the  two.  It  is  the  spirit  that 
IS  subject  to  God  on  earth,  to  which  God  makes  all  things  subject  in  heaven.  The  soul  that  in  the 
humiliation  of  earth  mahes  God  all  is  fit  for  the  heavens,  when  God  is  manifested  in  glory  as  the 
All  In  All. 


Zbc  -ffjoUest  of  HU 


XII. 

WE  SEE  JESUS  CROWNED  WITH  GLORY  AND  HONOUR. 

II.— 8.  But  now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected  to  him. 
9.  But  we  behold  Him  who  hath  been  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
even  Jesus,  because  of  the  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honour. 

What  a  gloriou.s  contra.st !  We  see  not  yet  all  things 
subjected  to  him,  that  is,  to  man  :  but — what  is  far  better 
— we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  When  we 
look  round  upon  this  world,  with  all  its  sin  and  misery,  it 
does  indeed  not  appear  as  if  man  was  destined  to  be  higher 
than  the  angels,  and  to  have  dominion  over  all  the  works  of 
God's  hands.  But  when  we  remember  that  Jesus  became  Man, 
that  He  might  taste  death  for  all  men,  and  that  He,  a  Man 
upon  the  throne,  now  lives  as  our  Surety,  our  Redeemer,  and 
our  Head,  it  is  enough  if  we  see  Hvn  crowned  with  glory 
and  honour.  In  that  we  have  the  pledge  that  He  will  one  day 
bring  man  to  that  glory  and  honour  too.  In  that  we  have 
the  assurance  that  He  is  using  all  that  glory  and  honour  even 
now  on  our  behalt.  We  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected  to 
man,  but  — we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  honour  and  glory. 
Blessed  contrast ! 

The  right  knowledge  and  use  of  this  antithesis  is  the  secret  I 
of  the  life  of  faith.    We  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected  to ! 
Him  —  how   exactly    this   expresses    the    disappointment    and 
failure  which   is  often  the  experience  of  the  believer  when  his 


76  Jibe  ibollcst  of  BU 


first  joy  and  hope  begin  to  pass  away.     He  finds  that  sin  is 

stronger  than  he  knew ;  that  the  power  of  the  world  and  the 

flesh  and  self  are  not  yet  made  subject  to  him  as  he  had  hoped. 

At  times  it  is  as  if  he  feels  that  the  promises  of  God,  and  the 

expectations  they  raised  in  his  heart,  are  vain.     Or  else,  if  he 

!  acknowledge    that   God   is  indeed   faithful   to  fulfil    them,   the 

jway  for  one  who  is  as  weak  as  he  is,  and  in  his  circumstances, 

jto  obtain  these  promises  is  too  hard.     The   promises  of  God, 

to  put  all  things  in  subjection  to  us  and  make  us  more  than 

conquerors,  are  indeed  most  precious,  but,  alas,  ever  again  the 

'bitter  experience  comes — man  sees  not  yet  all  things  subjected 

to  him. 

Blessed  the  man  who  knows,  then,  in  living  faith  to  saj-  : 
But  we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  Blessed 
the  man  who  knows  to  look  away  from  all  that  he  finds  in 
himself  of  imperfection  and  failure,  to  look  up  and  behold  all 
the  perfection  and  glory  he  finds  in  Jesus  !  Yes,  blessed  the 
man  who  finds  his  delight  and  his  life  in  meeting  every 
disappointment  and  every  difficulty  with  the  blessed  :  But — 
we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  This  is  all 
I  need !  this  satisfies  the  soul,  and  gives  it  jicacc  and  joy 
and  strength. 

The  ICfjistle  is  about  to  expound  to  us  the  great  mwslery, 
\vh\'  the  Son  of  G(jd  was  matle  a  little  lower  than  the  angels. 
It  was  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  He  might  taste  death  for  every 
man,  and  .so  open  up  again  the  entrance  into  God's  presence 
and  favour.  The  necessity  and  meaning  of  His  sufferings  and 
death  it  will  present  tons  in  three  different  aspects.  The  first 
(v.  lo),  that  in  suflcring  and  death  Chri.st  Him.sclf  must  needs 
be  made  perfect,  so  that  as  our  Leader  He  might  open  up  to  us 
the  path  of  perfection,  and  prepare  that  new  nature,  that  new 


trbc  Iboliest  of  ail  77 


way  of  living,  in  which  we  are  to  be  led  to  glory.  The  second 
(14,  15),  that  through  death,  making  propitiation  for  sin,  He 
might  destroy  the  devil,  with  his  power  of  death,  and  give  us  a 
perfect  deliverance  from  all  fear  of  it.  And  the  third  (16-18), 
that  in  what  He  suffered,  He  might  be  made  a  merciful  and 
faithful  High  Priest,  able  to  secure  our  perfect  confidence,  and 
to  give  us  the  succour  we  need.  But  before  the  writer  thus 
unfolds  the  meaning  of  Christ's  humiliation,  he  first  points  to 
His  glory.  It  is  this  which  constitutes  the  excellency  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  gives  our  faith  its  power  of  endurance 
and  victory ;  we  see  Jesus  now  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty 
of  God.  Let  us  hold  this  fast  as  the  chief  thought  of  the  Epistle, 
as  the  one  great  lesson  the  Hebrews,  and  all  feeble  backsliding 
Christians,  need  :  Jesus,  who  suffered  for  us;  Jesus  who  in  His 
suffering  as  our  Leader,  opened  a  way  to  God  for  us;  Jesus  who 
sympathises  with  us — this  Jesus  is  crowned  with  honour  and 
glory.     To  see  Him  is  to  know  that  we  have  all  we  can  need. 

Would  you,  my  reader,  give  more  abundant   heed   to  the  \ 
great  salvation  ?  would  you  experience  how  completely  Jesus  1 
is  able  to  save?   do   you  long  for  just  as   much  of  the  love  i 
and    the    presence,   the   holiness  and  the  joy  and  the    power  ' 
of  God    in  you  as  there  is  in  Jesus   for  you?  here  you  have 
the  secret  of  it  all !     Amid  all  sin  and  weakness,  all  darkness 
and  doubt,  all  failure  and  perplexity,  hold  fast  this  one  truth, 
engage  in  this  one  exercise  of  faith  :  We  see  not  yet  all  things 
subjected  to  man,  but  we  see  Jesus  crowned  with  honour  and 
glory.     This  gives  peace,  and  victory,  and  joy  unspeakable. 

And  if  you  would  know  how  thus  ever  to  have  the  heart 
turned  to  Jesus,  remember.  He  came  to  save  His  people  from 
their  sins.  It  is  the  heart  that  is  weary  of  itself  and  its  sins, 
that  fully  accepts  the  fact  of  the  utter  corruption  and  the  utter 


78  Zbc  lbolic3t  of  ail 


helplessness  of  all  that  is  of  the  old  nature  and  of  self,  that  will 
find  itself  attracted  with  strong  desire  to  this  mighty  Redeemer. 
In  such  a  heart  Jesus,  the  crowned  One,  will  not  only  be  a 
distant  object,  but,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  an  indwelling  presence. 
The  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  inseparably  connected  with,  is 
our  only  proof  of,  the  glorifying  of  Jesus  (John  vii.  38,  39;  xvi.  14; 
xvii.  10),  is  our  only  real  participation  in  the  blessings  that  flow 
from  it.  Let  ail  our  worship  of  Him,  crowned  with  glory  and 
honour,  be  in  the  faith  that  the  Pentecostal  Spirit  glorifies  Him 
in  us,  so  that  our  whole  inner  being  is  filled  with  His  presence. 

7.  Jesus,  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels.  Jesus,  because  of  the  suffering  of  death, 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  Look  not  only  at  the  glory,  but  look  well  at  the  place  of  its  birth, 
at  the  way  in  which  it  was  gained.  It  is  in  the  way  in  which  you  are  walking  now.  Learn  to 
welcome  humiliation  and  suffering  as  the  seed,  the  power  out  of  which  the  glory  is  brought 
forth,  as  the  way  in  which  Jesus  in  glory  is  preparing  you  for  the  glory. 

2.  We  see  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  Let  every  experience  of  the  contrast— 
we  see  not  yet  all  things  subject  to  man— become  a  call  and  a  motive  and  a  help  to  turn  to 
Jesus.  Let  us  take  time  and  gaze  and  worship  until  our  whole  soul  is  filled  with  the  faith  : 
this  life  of  humiliation  is  the  bud  of  the  glory  everlasting  :  Jesus  in  glory  is  proof  that  it  is  so, 
the  pledge  that  it  will  be  so  with  as.  Be  this  our  life  :  We  see  Jesus,  because  of  the  suffering 
of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honour. 


JLbc  Ibolicet  of  ail  79 


XIII. 

JESUS  TASTING  DEATH  FOR  EVERY  MAN. 

II.— 9.  We  behold  him  who  hath  been  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels,  even  Jesus,  because  of  the  suifering  of  death  crowned  with  glory 
and  honour,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  He  should  taste  death  for  every  man. 

Here  we  have  the  one  great  reason  why  it  was  meet  that 
Jesus  should  be  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels.  It  was 
that  He  might  taste  death  for  every  man.  In  the  counsel  of 
divine  grace,  and  in  the  great  plan  of  redemption,  this  was 
one  of  the  first  objects  of  the  incarnation — the  birth  was  for  the 
sake  of  the  death.  Without  that  wonderful  birth, — THE  WORD, 
that  was  God,  made  flesh, — the  death  would  not  have  profited 
us.  Without  that  wonderful  birth  the  death  would  have  availed 
us  little.  What  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man  put 
asunder.  Let  us  beware  of  exalting  the  one  at  the  expense 
of  the  other.  The  birth  and  the  death  are  two  inseparable 
parts  of  the  one  process  by  which  He  was  perfected  as  the 
Firstborn  from  the  dead,  and  became  our  Deliverer  and  King. 
The  humanity  and  humiliation  of  Jesus  was  needful  for  His 
death  for  or  on  behalf  of  every  man. 

And  what  was  the  meaning  of  this  death  ?     And  wherein 
lies  its  efficacy  ?     In  Scripture  there  is  a  twofold  aspect  in  which 


80  Zbc  t)oUe0t  of  ail 


the  death  of  Christ,  as  our  Head,  is  set  before  us.  The  one  is 
that  He  died  for  sin,  bearing  its  curse,  and  suffering  death 
as  God's  righteous  judgment  on  account  of  it.  His  death 
opened  \\\y  the  way  to  God  for  us.  It  did  for  us  what  we 
cannot  and  need  not  do  ;  it  wrought  out  a  finished  salvation, 
which  we  haxe  but  to  accept  and  repose  upon.  According 
to  the  other  aspect,  He  died  to  sin.  His  death  was  a  proof 
of  His  resistance  to  sin  and  its  temptation,  of  His  readiness 
rather  to  give  up  life  than  yield  to  sin  ;  a  proof  that  there  is  no 
way  of  being  entirely  free  from  the  flesh  and  its  connection 
with  sin,  but  by  yielding  the  old  life  to  death,  in  order  to 
receive  afresh  and  direct  from  God  a  life  entirely  new.  In  this 
view  His  death  was  an  act  of  infinite  moral  and  spiritual 
value, — the  consummation  of  the  work  God  wrought  when 
He  perfected  Him  through  suffering. 

The  former  aspect,  the  death  for  sin  on  our  behalf,  has  its 
value  from  the  second,  which  reveals  what  constitutes  its  true 
nature  and  power.  And,  even  so,  the  faith  in  the  death  for  sin, 
must  lead  us  into  the  death  to  sin.  The  one  view  is  that  of 
.substitution  :  Christ  doing  what  I  cannot  do.  The  other  that 
of  fellowship  :  Christ  working  in  me  what  I  see  in  Himself. 
The  former  is  a  finished  work,  and  gives  me  boldness  at 
once  and  for  ever  to  trust  God.  The  latter  is  the  power 
of  sanctification,  as  the  death  and  the  life  of  Christ  work- 
in  me. 

Both  views  are  found  in  the  Epistle  in  perfect  harmony. 
See  how  clearly  the  former  comes  out  in  this  chapter.  It  is 
because  of  the  suffering  of  death,  that  He  has  been  crowned 
with  glory  and  honour.  "  He  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels  that  He  might  taste  death  for  every  man,"  might  drink 
the  cup  of  death,  as  the  fruit   of  sin,  for  all.     Some  men  die 


trbc  Iboliest  of  Bll  8i 


without  tasting  the  bitterness  of  death ;  Jesus  tasted  its 
bitterness,  as  the  curse  of  sin,  in  full  measure.  Then  we  read, 
ver.  14,  that  He  became  man,  that  through  death  He  might 
bring  to  nought  Him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that 
is,  the  devil,  and  deliver  them  who  were  subject  to  bondage. 
His  death  accomplished  for  us  what  we  never  could,  what  we 
now  need  not  do.  And  ver.  17  tells  us  that  His  being  made 
Man  was  that  He  might  be  a  High  Priest  in  things  pertaining 
to  God ;  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 
All  these  expressions — suffering  death,  tasting  death  for  all, 
bringing  to  nought  the  devil,  making  reconciliation  for  the 
sins  of  the  people — refer  to  the  finished  work  which  Christ 
wrought,  the  sure  and  everlasting  foundation  on  which  our 
faith  and  hope  can  rest. 

In  its  subsequent  teaching  the  Epistle  will  show  us  what 
the  building  is  that  rests  on  that  foundation,  what  the  heavenly 
power  and  life,  the  blessed  nearness  and  service  of  God,  to 
which  the  High  Priest,  our  Forerunner  and  Leader,  brings  us  in 
fellowship  with  Himself  in  the  way  He  opened  up.  But  it 
would  have  us  begin  here  and  strike  the  roots  of  our  faith  deep 
in  the  work  which  Christ,  as  our  Substitute,  wrought  on  Calvary. 
Let  us  study  the  words  carefully,  and  remember  them  well, 
and  -believe  them  fully :  Christ  hath  tasted  death  for  all,  and 
emptied  the  cup ;  Christ  hath  brought  to  nought  the  devil  ; 
Christ  hath  made  reconciliation  for  sin.  Death  and  the  devil 
ard  sin :  these  ha\e  been  put  away,  have  been  brought  to 
nought.  A  complete  deliverance  has  been  effected.  The 
sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  have  such  an  infinite  worth 
and  preciousness  in  God's  sight  that  no  soul,  who  is  resolved 
to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  sin,  need  any  longer  fear, 
but   may  with  boldness   meet  its   God.     The  death    of  Christ 


82  Sbc  Iboliest  of  ail 


hath  wrought  with  mijrhty  power  in  heaven  and  earth  and 
hell.  It  has  satisfied,  and  delighted  God  ;  it  has  conquered 
death  and  sin  and  hell  ;  it  has  redeemed  and  delivered  mankind. 
Let  that  death  li\e  in  thy  heart ;  it  will  work  there  its  mighty 
wonders  too.  And  thou  shalt  find  Jesus  in  thine  heart,  for 
the  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honour. 

/.  The  first  Adam  tasted  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  won  death  for  all.  The  Second  Adam 
tasted  this  death,  and  brought  life  for  all.  To  all  who  accept  Him,  the  power,  the  indwelling, 
the  energy  of  the  life  is  no  less  true  and  real  than  that  of  sin  and  death  has  been.  "  We 
see  Jesus  for  the  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honour." 

2.  Jesus  tasted  the  bitterness  of  thy  sin  and  death,  0  my  soul ;  that  thou  mightest  taste 
the  sweetness  of  His  life  and  love.    0  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good. 

3.  "By  the  grace  of  God  taste  death  for  every  man."  "Where  sin  abounded,  grace  did 
abound  more  exceedingly,  that,  as  sin  reigned  in  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through 
righteousness  unto  eternal  life." 


Zbc  1F30[(est  of  2111  ss 


XIV. 

THE  LEADER  OF  OUR  SALVATION. 

II.— 10.  For  it  became  Him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  thi'ough  whom 
are  all  things,  in  bringing'  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  author-  of 
their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings. 

We  have  seen  that  there  is  more  than  one  reason  for  the 
humiliation  of  the  Lord  Jesu.s,  even  unto  the  suffering  of  death. 
Here  we  have  the  first :  that  as  the  Leader  of  our  salvation, 
through  whom  God  leads  His  sons  to  glory,  He  might  open  up 
the  path,  the  way  of  life,  in  which  we  were  to  go.  For  this 
He  needed  to  be  made  perfect  through  suffering  and  death. 
So  only  could  He  become  a  Leader,"'  in  the  true  and  full  sen.se 
of  the  word.  In  suffering,  His  will  was  perfected.  His  character 
fashioned,  His  dependence  on  God  and  delight  in  His  will 
was  confirmed  and  made  manifest.  In  suffering.  His  obedience 
unto  death  opened  up  the  living  way  in  which  alone  the 
creature  can  reach  the  Creator — the  deepest  humility  and 
entire  surrender.  As  Leader  He  opened  up  the  path  of  life, 
a  mode  of  living  and  acting,  in  which  we  are  to  follow. 

It  is  this   that  we   also  spoke  of  as  the   second  aspect  of 

'  Leading.  -  Leader. 

^  The  Dutch  version  has:  "Tlie  Leader-in-Chief."  The  translation  "Leader" 
makes  more  clear  the  connection  with  what  precedes  :  "  God  leading  [agagon)  makes 
iht  Leader-'m-Qh\ti  [KxcYvegos)  perfect."  Of  Captain  in  A.V.  and  Author,  R.V., 
Westcott  says  :  "Neither  word  gives  the  fulness  of  sense.  The  Arclicgos  Himself 
first  takes  part  in  that  which  He  establishes."  In  xii.  i  he  adopts  the  word 
"Leader"  in  his  translation — Jesus  the  Leader  and  Finisher  of  faith. 


84  Sbe  iboliest  of  ail 


Christ's  death.  That  death  is  not  only  atonement  but  fellow- 
ship. It  is  only  in  suffering,  in  being  crucified  and  dead  with 
Christ,  that  we  know  Christ  and  His  salvation.  Christ  was 
made  perfect  through  suffering  that  He  might  be  a  Leader, 
that  in  conformity  to  Him,  and  in  partaking  of  His  Spirit 
and  likeness,  we  might  find  the  path  to  God  and  to  glory. 

The  work  of  a  leader  supposes  three  things.  The  first :  He 
must  Himself  lead  the  way,  passing  through  all  its  difficulties 
and  dangers,  knowing  and  showing  it  to  those  who  follow.  The 
second:  those  who  follow  must  yield  themselves  wholly  to  His 
guidance,  walking  even  as  He  walked.  The  third  :  He  must  take 
charge  of  His  followers,  seeing  that  all  hindrances  are  removed, 
and  providing  for  all  their  needs.  Let  us  see  how  blessedly 
all  this  is  fulfilled  in  Jesus,  and  what  a  comfort  it  brings  us 
to  know  that  Jesus  bears  this  name  too  :  the  Leader  of  our 
salvation. 

The  leader  nitist  zualk  in  tlie  very  path  his  folloicers  have 
to  go. — The  path  we  sought  in  vain  was  one  that  could  bring 
us  out  from  under  the  dominion  of  sin,  both  in  its  guilt  as 
transgression  against  God,  and  its  power  as  death  to  all  that  is 
holy  and  good.  There  was  no  possible  way  out  of  this  state  of 
sin  and  guilt  and  death,  but  by  the  submission  to  the  judg- 
ment of  God,  and  by  giving  proof,  in  bearing  that  judgment, 
of  entire  and  willing  surrender  to  God's  will.  There  was  no 
way  to  come  out  of  fallen  nature,  with  the  power  of  self  and 
selfwill  ruling  it,  but  by  entirely  dying  to  it  ;  suffering  anything 
rather  than  let  it  have  its  way.  This  was  the  waj-  in  which 
Jesus  would  have  to  lead  us.  And  He  had  to  walk  in  it 
Himself  It  became  God,  in  leading-  many  sons  unto  glory, 
to  make  the  Leader  of  their  salvation  perfect  through 
suffering.     Christ  was  perfect   from   His  birth  ;  e\er)-  wish  and 


Zbe  Ibollest  of  mi  85 


inclination  was  as  it  should  be ;  but  only  as  a  disposition,  as  a 
power,  that  needed  to  be  tested  and  developed  and  strengthened 
by  trial.  What  the  suffering  and  the  death  effected  in  Christ 
personally,  in  perfecting  His  character,  is  the  groundwork  of 
what  it  effected  on  our  behalf  It  was  needful  that  God  should 
make  Him  perfect  through  suffering ;  the  perfectness  that 
comes  through  suffering  is  meekness  and  gentleness,  patience 
and  perfect  resignation  to  God's  will.  It  was  because  of  the 
humility  and  meekness  and  lowliness  of  heart,  which  the 
Lamb  of  God  showed  here  upon  earth,  that  He  is  now  the 
Lamb  on  the  throne.  Through  suffering  He  was  made  perfect, 
and  found  worthy  to  be  our  High  Priest. 

A  leader  must  be  folloived. — His  followers  must  walk  in  the 
very  path  in  which  he  walks.  Jesus  came  and  was  made  like 
us :  we  must  come  and  be  made  like  Him.  His  suffering  and 
death  is  not  only  substitution  and  atonement.  It  is  that,  thank 
God !  but  it  is  much  more  too.  It  calls  to  fellowship  and 
conformity.  The  substitution  rests  on  identification  :  out  of  that 
conformity  has  its  growth  and  strength.  The  Lamb  of  God  has 
no  salvation  and  no  perfection  to  give  us  but  His  own  meek 
spirit  of  entire  dependence  and  absolute  submission  to  God. 
The  meekness  and  humility  that  it  was  needful  God  should 
perfect  in  Him  are  as  needful  for  us.  We  must  suffer  and  be 
crucified  and  die  with  Him.  Death  to  self  and  the  world,  at 
the  cost  of  any  suffering  or  self-denial,  this  is  the  only  path  to 
glory  the  Leader  of  our  sahation  has  opened  up  to  us. 

A  leader  cares  for  his  folUnvers. — He  does  not  say.  Follow 
me,  who  can.  He  watches  over  everyone,  the  very  feeblest. 
Remember  what  care  Stanley  took  in  darkest  Africa  to  gather 
in  the  stragglers — to  leave  the  feeble  ones  provided  in  camp, 
and  then  to  wait  for  their  coming  up.     Jesus  is  a  Leader,  com- 


86  ^be  Ibohcst  of  au 


passionate  and  sympathetic,  and  most  faithful  :  with  all  the  faith- 
fulness and  steadfastness  with  which  He  walked  that  path 
Himself  on  earth,  will  He  help  everyone,  who  will  only  in 
meekness  trust  and  obey  Him,  to  walk  in  that  way  to 
the  end. 

My  brethren  I  do  you  understand  what  it  means  that  the 
Father,  in  leading  you  to  glory,  has  made  Jesus  the  Leader  of 
our  salvation.  Jesus  is  responsible  for  you.  Take  Him  and 
trust  Him  as  your  Leader.  The  great  need  in  one  who  follows  a 
leader  is  a  tender,  teachable  spirit.  Rejoice  that  you  have  such 
a  Leader,  Himself  made  perfect  in  meekness  and  submission 
through  suffering,  that  He  might  lead  you  in  the  blessed  path 
that  brought  Him,  and  will  bring  j'ou  as  surely,  to  the  glory 
of  the  Father. 

And  remember  who  this  Leader  is— the  Son  of  God,  the 
divine  Maker  and  Upholder  of  all  things.  Not  only  the  Son  of 
Man  as  a  Leader  outside  of  us,  influencing  us  by  example  and 
instruction,  by  authority  and  kindness  does  He  guide  us.  No, 
but  as  the  Son  of  God  who  works  in  us  by  His  Spirit,  yea  who 
Himself  dwells  within  us.  Even  as  it  was  God  who  worked  in 
Him  and  |)crfectcd  Him,  will  He,  as  God,  now  work  in  us  and 
perfect  us. 

1.  Christ  came  to  giue  us  an  entirely  new  conception  of  what  true  life  is,  to  show  us  a 
new  way  of  thinking  and  liuing,  to  teach  us  that  a  heavenly  life  consists  in  gluing  up  every- 
thing that  has  the  slightest  connection  with  sin  for  the  sahe  of  pleasing  the  Father 
perfectly.     This  is  the  new  and  liuing  way  He  opened  up  through  the  rent  ueil  of  the  flesh. 

2.  "It  became  God  to  perfect  Him."  All  that  Christ  wrought,  and  all  that  was  wrought  in 
Him.  was  wrought  by  God.  He  yielded  Himself  to  God:  He  did  nothing  of  Himself:  He 
allowed  God  to  do  all  in  Him.  This  is  the  path  of  perfection,  the  path  to  glory,  in  which 
Jesus  leads.  His  divinity  is  inexpressibly  precious  to  us  for  what  He  can  be  and  do  in  us. 
But  as  inexpressibly  precious  His  humanity,  showing  us  how  He  was  perfected,  how  God 
worked  in  Him,  what  we  must  be,  what  through  Him  we  can  most  surely  be. 

3.  Seeli  to  get  very  clear  hold  of  the  truth  that  He  is  only  a  Saviour  n.i  He  is  a  Leader. 
Salvation  is  being  led  by  Him. 


^be  1F30licst  of  au  87 


XV. 

FOR  WHOM  AND  THROUGH  WHOM  ARE  ALL  THINGS. 

II.— 10.  For  it  became  Him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  through  whom  are 
all  things,  in  bringing ^  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  author-  of  their 
salvation  perfect  through  sufferings. 

For  whom  are  all  things.  God  is  the  final  Cause  of  all 
that  is.  It  exists  with  the  one  purpose  of  showing  forth  His 
glory.  Every  object  in  nature  has  its  only  reason  of  existence 
in  this  that  the  wondrous  goodness  and  power  of  God  may 
shine  out  through  it.  Above  all,  man  was  created  that  the 
adorable  Being,  whose  very  nature  is  love,  might  have  the 
opportunity  of  proving  in  Him  how  freely  and  how  fully  he 
would  make  him  partaker  of  the  riches  of  His  grace  and 
glory. 

For  whom  are  all  things,  that  in  them  His  glory  and  goodness 
may  be  made  known.  "  Worthy  art  thou,  O  our  Lord  and  our 
God,  to  receive  the  glory  and  the  honour  and  the  power,  for 
thou  didst  create  all  things  ;  and  because  of  Thy  will  they  arc 
and  were  created." 

Through  whom  are  all  things.  God  is  the  efficient  cause  of 
all  that  is.  God  is  the  end  and  aim  of  all  things,  because  He 
is  their  beginning  and  origin.  All  must  return  to  Him  because 
all  came  from  Him  and  exist  only  through  him.  There  is  no 
life  or  goodness  or  beauty,  which  does  not  rise  up  to  Him 
again,  its  only  fountain  and  source.     "  There   is  one  God,  the 

^  Leading,  -  Leader. 


88  Zbc  -bolicdt  of  Bll 


Father,  of  i\.'hont  arc  all  things,  and  we  unto  Him."     "One  God 
and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all  and  in  all." 

The  apostle  might  have  written  :  "  It  became  God  to  make 
the  Leader  of  our  salvation  perfect  through  suffering."  Not 
without  good  reason  docs  he  introduce  here  the  character  in 
which  God  aclcd  in  perfecting  the  Son  as  Leader  of  our  salva- 
tion. When  man  sinned  and  fell  from  God,  he  lost  together 
the  two  blessed  truths  in  which  his  relation  to  God  had  stood. 
His  holy  allegiance  to  God,  having  all  things  for  Iliui,  his 
bles.sed  dependence  on  God,  having  all  things  through  Hivi ; 
instead  of  these  came  the  reign  of  self,  with  its  life  for  self  and 
through  self 

It  was  from  this  life  of  self  Jesus  came  to  redeem  us,  to 
bring  us  back  to  God,  to  know  and  honour  Him  -as  the  God 
and  Father,  for  whom  are  all  things  and  through  whom 
are  all  things.  In  doing  this  he  opened  again  the  onl)-  way 
which  could  lead  to  glory.  He  did  it  first  by  showing  us  in  His 
life,  as  ]\Lin,  how  men  ought  to  live  for  God  and  through  God. 
And  then  by  deli\'cring  us  through  His  death  from  the  dominion 
of  sin,  and  winning  for  us  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life. 

For  whom  are  all  things,  and  through  whom  are  all  things. 
It  was  in  this  character  that  God  perfected  Christ  through 
sufferings.  It  was  in  this  character  that  Christ  revealed  and 
honoured  God  in  His  sufferings.  It  is  to  win  and  bring  us  to 
know  and  love  and  serve  God  in  this  character  that  Jesus  is 
Sa\iour. 

For  whom  are  all  things.  Throughout  His  whole  life  there 
is  nothing  that  Jesus  sought  to  impress  more  distincth'  on  His 
disciples  than  this,  that  He  was  the  I^'ather's  messenger  and 
ser\ant  ;  that  there  was  no  thought  of  doing  His  own  will  or 
seeking   His  own   honour:  that   He  only  sought  and  did  what 


<rbC  1bOUC5t  of  mi  89 


would  be  for  the  Father's  pleasure  and  glory.  He  gave  us  the 
example  of  a  man  on  earth  living  absolutely  and  entirely  for 
God  in  heaven.  His  life  on  earth  was  the  exhibition  here  in  the 
flesh,  the  translation  into  human  language,  of  the  divine  claim 
— '' All  tJiings  for  God.'''  His  allegiance  to  God  was  absolute. 
He  proved  to  us  that  man's  destiny  and  blessedness  and  ever- 
lasting glory  are  to  be  found  in  this :  Living  whoU)^  for  God. 

Through  whom  are  all  things.  Of  this  too  Christ's  life 
was  the  exposition.  He  was  not  ashamed  continually  to  say 
that  He  could  do  nothing  of  Himself,  and  that  only  as  the 
Father  showed  Him  or  spake  to  Him,  could  He  work  and 
speak.  He  counted  this  His  blessedness  and  His  strength — 
not  to  be  able  to  do  anything  of  Himself,  but  in  continual 
dependence  to  wait  on  God  and  His  working  in  Him.  He 
knew  and  taught  us  that  the  man  who  has  said  in  whole-hearted 
devotion  to  God,  "All  things  for  God,"  may  confidently  say  too, 
"  All  things  through  God." 

''All  for  God"  ''All  through  God"  Jesus  Christ  has  made 
it  possible  for  us  to  make  these  our  watchwords.  In  all  aspira- 
tions after  a  closer  walk  with  God,  in  all  efforts  after  a  purer, 
truer,  higher  life,  they  are  the  two  poles  between  which  the 
soul  ought  to  move.  They  are  the  sure  marks  of  that  true 
scriptural  mysticism,  which  has  such  attractions  for  all  hungry 
souls,  who  long  to  know  and  please  God  perfectly. 

All  for  God!  absolutely,  without  a  moment,  a  thought,  a 
word,  a  person,  a  possession,  excepted  ;  wholly  for  God,  this 
becomes  the  soul's  one  desire.  It  has  seen  that  God  is  worthy 
of  this,  that  He  claims  it,  and  that  in  the  very  nature  of  things, 
nothing  less  can  satisfy  the  heart  God  made  to  be  filled  with 
Himself 

All  through  God!     The  clearer  the  aim   becomes  to  be  all 


90  z\K  iboUcst  Of  ail 


for  God,  and  the  deeper  the  soul  sinks  into  its  own  emptiness 
and  impotence,  under  the  conviction  that  with  man  it  is  im- 
possible, the  sooner  does  faith  rise  to  see  that  we  can  not  only 
say,  but  that  we  do  dare  to  say,  A//  for  God !  because  we  may 
also  say,  All  througJi  God !     God  Himself  will  work  it  in  us. 

This  is  the  God  who  has  rc\caled  Himself  to  us  in  His  Son. 
It  became  Him,  for  whom  all  things  and  through  whom 
are  all  things,  to  make  the  Leader  of  our  salvation  perfect 
through  sufferings.  Let  us  worship  Him !  Let  us  adore 
Him  !  Lei  us  offer  Him  the  sacrifice  of  full  allegiance  and  child- 
like dependence,  as  the  words  ring  through  heart  and  life — 
All  for  God!  All  through  God!  God  is  all. 

7.  The  practice  of  the  presence  of  God  is  a  most  needful  and  most  blessed  spiritual 
exercise.  As  the  sou/  bows  in  stillness  and  lowliness,  and  worships  in  silence,  it  gets  into 
the  right  spirit  for  recognising  its  own  nothingness,  and  realising  that  God  is  all— that  all 
is  for  Him,  and  all  through  Him. 

2.  All  for  God:  that  is  consecration.  All  through  God:  that  is  faith.  This  was  the 
spirit  in  which  Christ  yielded  Himself  to  God :  consecration  and  faith. 

3.  This  was  the  God  who  perfected  Christ.  To  know  and  honour  God  in  this  character  is 
the  secret  of  perfection,  for  in  such  He  can  do  His  work.  This  is  the  God  who  is  leading  many 
sons  to  glory  ;  to  know  and  honour  Him  is  the  path  to  glory.  To  reueal  this  God  and  His  claims, 
to  show  how  to  giue  up  everything  to  Him,— this  was  what  Christ  came  for.  This  is  the  life  He 
brought  us,  the  path  He  opened,  the  salvation  He  gives. 


Zbe  IboUest  ot  Bll  9i 


XVI. 

JESUS   CALLS  US  BRETHREN. 

IT.— 11.  For  both  He  that  sanctifleth  and  they  that  are  sanctified,  are  all 
of  1  One:  for  which  cause  lie  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren,  saying  (Ps. 
xxii.  23), 

12.  I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my  brethren, 

In  the  midst  of  the  congregation  will  I  sing  thy  praise. 

13.  And  again,  I  will  put  my  trust  in  him  (Isa.  viii.  17).  And  again.  Be- 
hold, I  and  the  children  which  God  hath  given  me  (Isa.  viii.  18). 

We  have  here  the  reason  of  what  precedes.  Why  was  it  that  it 
was  needful  for  God,  in  leading  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make 
the  Leader  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  suffering  ?  Or, 
how  was  it,  that  making  Him  perfect  could  perfect  them,  and 
bring  salvation  to  them  ?  The  answer  is,  He  that  sanctifieth, 
that  is,  Jesus,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  God's  sons,  are  all 
out  of  One,  that  is,  of  God.  In  proof  of  this  three  texts  are 
quoted,  in  which  Jesus  calls  us  brethren,  takes  His  place 
with  us  in  trusting  God,  and  speaks  of  us  as  the  children  God 
hath  given  Him.  It  is  because  Jesus,  the  firstborn  Son,  and 
the  sons  He  leads  to  glory,  are  one  in  their  being  begotten  of 
God,  that  His  perfection  secures  their  salvation.  It  is  the 
oneness  of  Jesus  with  us  that  fits  Him  to  be  the  Leader  of 
salvation. 

This  oneness   has   its   root  in   the   truth   of  the  divine  life. 
Both  He  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  that  are  sanctified  are  all 

'  Out  of. 


92  vTbe  Iboltcst  or  ail 


out  of  One.  Jesus  is  the  onl)'  begotten,  the  eternal  Son,  one 
with  the  Father  in  His  divine  Being  and  Majesty.  We  are 
sons  of  God,  as  we  partake  of  the  divine  Hfe  through  and  in 
Him.  Nothwithstanding  the  difference  between  His  Sonship 
and  ours,  His  being  original  and  ours  derived,  they  are  at 
root  one  ;  the  life  of  both  has  its  origin  in  the  life  of  God. 
It  is  this  oneness  of  Christ  with  us  in  origin,  that  made  it 
possible  for  Him  to  become  one  with  us  in  our  humanity,  and 
so  to  be  the  Leader  of  our  salvation.  It  is  this  oneness  that 
makes  it  possible  for  Him  to  communicate  to  us  that  perfection, 
that  perfect  meekness  and  delight  in  God's  will,  which  was 
wrought  out  in  His  human  nature  through  suffering,  that 
holiness  of  His  with  which  we  must  be  made  holy. 

For  both  He  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  that  are  sanctified 
are  all  of  One.  Jesus  is  the  sanctifier,  we  are  the  sanctified. 
The  object  for  which  Christ  became  the  Leader  of  our  salvation, 
the  great  work  He  has  to  do  for  us,  the  bond  of  union  between 
the  Son  and  the  sons  of  God,  the  proof  of  their  bearing  His 
image  and  likeness,  and  the  mark  of  their  real  oneness,  is 
Holiness. 

The  word  Holy  is  one  of  the  deej^est  in  Scrijiture.  It  means 
a  great  deal  more  than  separated  or  consecrated  to  God.  The 
Triune  God  is  the  Thrice-Holy  One:  Holiness  is  the  deepest 
mystery  of  His  Being,  the  wondrous  union  of  His  righteousness 
and  His  love.  To  be  holy  is  to  be  in  fellowship  with  God, 
j)ossessed  of  Him.  Therefore  the  Spirit  specially  bears  the 
name  of  Holy,  because  He  is  the  bearer  to  us  of  the  love  of  God, 
:\w(\.  the  maintenance  of  the  di\inc  fellowship  is  His  special 
work.  Jesus  is  the  Holy  One  of  God,  who  makes  us  holy  in 
filling  us  with  His  Holy  Spirit.'     The  difference  between  Jesus 

'  Here  and  throughout  the  Kpistle  the  word  holy  and  sanctify  includes  much 


Zbe  Iboliest  ot  ail  98 


and  us  is  great — the  oneness  is  greater.  He  and  we  are  of  one, 
together  partakers  of  God's  life  and  God's  holiness.  Let  us 
give  abundant  heed  to  so  great  salvation. 

This  oneness  finds  its  manifestation  in  the  Brother-name 
which  Jesus  gives  us.  For  which  cause  He  is  not  ashamed  to 
call  them  Brethren,  saying,  I  will  declare  Thy  name  unto  My 
brethren.  The  writer  had  spoken  of  our  inner  oneness  with 
Jesus.  But  oh,  what  a  difference  in  actual  life,  such  a  terrible 
difference  that  He  might  well  be  ashamed  of  us !  Yes ! 
before  angels  as  well  as  before  the  world,  how  often  His  saints 
have  put  Him  to  shame,  have  given  Him  reason  to  be  ashamed 
of  His  relationship  !  But — blessed  be  His  name — His  becoming 
man  was  an  act  of  condescension,  which  had  its  root  in  the 
sense  of  His  oneness  with  us  as  being  one  with  Him  out  of  God, 
which  had  its  strergth  in  the  love  as  of  an  elder  Brother. 

Three  texts  are  now  quoted  ;  the  one  from  Ps.  xxii.  23,  in 
which  the  suffering  Messiah  promises  to  make  known  the 
Father's  name  to  His  brethren  ;  the  second  and  third  from  Isa. 
viii.  17,  18,  in  which,  in  prophetic  types,  His  fellowship  with  all 
His  people  in  the  life  of  faith  and  trust,  and  His  place  at  the  head 
of  those  whom  God  has  given  Him  as  children,  find  expression. 

What  wonderful  thoughts !  We,  as  truly  as  Jesus,  are  of  God ! 
It  is  in  the  light  of  this  truth  that  Jesus  looks  on  us,  and  loves  us, 
and  deals  with  us !  It  is  in  the  light  of  this  truth  we  must  look 
on  Jesus,  and  love  Him,  and  deal  with  Him.  And  in  the  light  of 
this  truth  let  us  look  on  ourselves  too.  This  is  the  life  of  faith 
— to  see  Jesus  and  ourselves  as  He  sees  us,  to  think  as  He 
thinks,  to  live  in  His  heart.     Then  will  the  promise  be  fulfilled 

more  than  is  ordinarily  meant  by  the  doctrine  of  sanctification,  "Sanctify  here 
includes  all  that  God  does  for  our  restoration,  as  He  calls,  justifies,  and  glorifies." 
Riegcr  in  Lange  on  x.  lo  (comp.  ix.  13,  14;  x.  10,  14,  29;  xiii.  12). 


94  Zbc  Ibolieat  of  ail 


to  us,  "  I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my  brethren,"  "  that  the 
love  wherewith  thou  hast  loved  me  may  be  in  them."  As  we  bow 
in  lowly,  waitin.q  silence  before  Him,  the  soul  will  hear  Him 
say :  My  Brother !  let  me  re\cal  to  thee  the  Father.  And  the 
name  and  the  love  and  the  nearness  of  the  leather  will  have  new 
meaning  when  I  can  say,  Jesus  calls  mc  Mis  brother!  God 
has  spoken  to  me  in  His  Son  !  And  I  shall  understand  that, 
to  faith,  the  incomprehensible  reality  of  oneness  with  Jesus 
becomes  the  blessed,  conscious  experience  of  the  soul  in  its 
daily  life. 

7.  Union  with  Jesus  in  being  born  of  God,  in  being  holy,  in  beintj  ad^nowledyed  by  Him  as  a 
brother  .'    What  a  blessed  life  I  what  a  full  salvation  .' 

2.  "He  that  doeth  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  My  brother.  "  Wouldxi  thou  know  the  holy  joy 
of  Jesus  saying  to  thee,  Brother  !— let  thy  life  be  what  His  was  -the  doing  of  th^will  of  God  1  It 
was  in  this  He  was  perfected  in  suffering.  It  is  in  this  that  His  Spirit  and  life  in  thee  will  mani- 
fest itself,  and  the  Brother-name  will  be  the  index  not  only  of  His  compassion  but  of  the  oneness 
in  Spirit  and  the  liheness  in  conduct  which  prove  thee  a  son  of  God. 

3.  Sanctification,  holiness,  is  nothing  more  than  a  life  in  union  with  Jesus.  Nothing  more, 
and  nothing  less.  He  that  sanctijieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all  of  One.  To  Hue  in 
that  oneness,  to  have  Jesus  living  in  us,  is  the  way  to  be  holy. 

4.  "  And  again,  I  will  put  my  trust  in  Him."  Jesus  lived  by  faith  in  God.  He  is  the  Leader 
and  Perfecter  of  faith.    He  opened  up  to  us  the  path  of  faith  and  leads  us  in  it. 


XTbe  1[3Ol(c0t  of  Bll  95 


XVII. 

THAT  HE  MIGHT  BRING  TO   NOUGHT   THE   DEVIL. 

II.— 14.  Since  then  the  children  are  sharers  in  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  him- 
self in  like  manner  partook  of  the  same;  that  through  death  he  might  bring 
to  nought  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil ; 

15.  And  might  deUver  all  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 

The  previous  verses  spoke  of  the  oneness  of  Jesus  and  His 
brethren  from  the  divine  side  :  they  are  all  of  One.  Here  we 
have  it  put  before  us  from  its  human  side :  Since  the  children 
are  sharers  in  flesh  and  blood,  He  Himself  in  like  manner 
partook  of  the  same.  We  ha\'e  already  said  that  for  this, 
Christ  becoming  man,  there  was  more  than  one  reason.  The 
first,  that,  as  our  Leader,  He  might  Himself  be  perfected,  and 
so  prepare  a  way — a  way  or  state  of  living,  a  nature,  a  life,  in 
which  we  might  draw  nigh  to  God.  The  second,  that  He  might 
deliver  us  from  the  power  of  death  and  the  devil.  The  third, 
that  in  all  His  work  for  us  and  in  us.  He  might  be  a  merciful 
High  Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  able  to  understand  and 
sympathise  with  us,  and  ready  to  bear  and  to  succour.  Here 
it  is  the  second  of  these  three  aspects  of  Christ's  incarnation 
that  is  brought  out :  He  became  man  that  He  might  meet  and 
conquer  and  destroy  the  power  of  death  and  the  devil. 

Since  the  children  are  sharers  in  flesh  and  blood,  He  also 
Himself  likewise  partook  of  the  same.  However  familiar  the 
thought  of  the  incarnation  is,  let  us  again  seek  to  realise  fully 


Zbc  IboUcst  of  au 


all  that  it  means.  As  ^Vdam  never  could  have  broujTjht  us  under 
the  jjower  of  sin  and  death,  if  he  had  not  been  our  father,  com- 
municating to  us  his  own  nature,  so  Christ  never  could  save 
us,  except  by  taking  our  nature  upon  Him,  doing  in  that  nature 
all  that  we  would  need  to  do,  had  it  been  possible  for  us  to 
deliver  ourselves,  and  then  communicating  the  fruit  of  what 
He  effected  as  a  nature  within  us  to  be  the  power  of  a  new, 
an  eternal  life.  As  a  divine  necessity,  without  which  there 
could  be  no  salvation,  as  an  act  of  infinite  lo\e  and  condescen- 
sion, the  Son  of  God  became  a  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood.  So 
alone  could  He  be  the  Second  Adam,  the  l^'ather  of  a  new  race. 
That  through  death  He  might  bring  to  nought  him  that 
had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil.  Death  is  a  power 
that  has  its  sanction  from  God  Himself  In  the  \ery  nature  of 
things  it  could  not  be  otherwise  than  that  man,  when  he  tunred 
from  God,  the  fountain  of  life,  to  Satan  and  to  self,  fell  under  the 
power  of  death.  He  had  \'ielded  himself  to  Satan,  and  Satan 
had  power  over  him.  As  the  jailor  keeps  the  prisoner  under  the 
authority  of  the  king,  Satan  holds  the  sinner  in  the  power  of 
death  so  long  as  no  true  legal  release  is  given.  The  onl)-  way 
for  us  to  come  from  under  the  power  of  Satan  and  death  was,  to 
lay  off  that  fallen  nature  o\er  which  they  had  power,  to  come 
out  of  that  sinful  life  by  dying  to  it,  and,  in  dying,  to  be  entirely 
freed  from  it.  We  had  no  power  to  do  this.  Jesus  entered  into 
all  the  conditions  of  our  fallen  humanity.  He  entered  into  our 
death,  and  endured  it  as  the  penalty  of  sin,  and,  enduring  it, 
satisfied  tlie  law  of  God.  And  so,  because  the  law  had  been  the 
strength  of  sin,  1  le  took  from  sin  and  the  devil  the  power  of 
death  over  us.  He  endured  death  as  the  end  of  the  life  of  the 
flesh,  in  full  acknowledgment  of  God's  righteous  judgment, 
yielding  up  His  spirit   to  the  Father.     Death,  as  the  penalty  of 


Zbc  Ibolicst  of  BU  97 


the  law,  death  as  the  end  of  the  life  of  nature,  death  as  the 
power  of  Satan  over  man,  was  destroyed,  and  he  that  had  the 
power  of  death  was  brought  to  nought.  And  now,  as  little 
claim  or  power  as  death  has  on  Him,  has  it  on  those  who  are 
in  Him,  on  those  in  whom  the  power  of  His  life  now  works. 
He  also  Himself  partook  of  flesh  and  blood,  that  through 
death  He  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death, 
that  is,  the  devil. 

And  might  deliver  all  them  who,  through  fear  of  death  were 
all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.  The  power  of  death  and 
the  devil  has  been  so  completely  broken  that  there  is  now  per- 
fect deliverance  from  that  fear  of  death  which  keeps  so  many  in 
bondage.  Under  the  Old  Testament,  life  and  immortality  had 
not  yet  been  fully  brought  to  light.  No  wonder  the  older  saints 
often  lived  and  spoke  as  those  subject  to  bondage.  But  how  sad 
that  the  redeemed  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  brethren,  so  often  prove 
that  they  know  but  little  of  the  reality  and  power  of  His  deliver- 
ance, or  of  the  song  of  joy  :  "  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory. 
Thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." 

My  brother !  art  thou  living  in  the  full  experience  of  this 
blessed  truth  ?  Because  thou  sharest  in  flesh  and  blood,  Christ 
came  and  likewise  partook  of  the  same,  that  there  might  be 
perfect  oneness  between  Him  and  thee.  Li  vest  thou  in  this 
oneness?  By  His  death  He  destroyed  the  devil,  that  thou 
mightest  be  entirely  freed  from  out  of  his  power.  Ls  thy  life 
in  this  liberty?  He  delivers  from  the  fear  of  death  and  the 
bondage  it  brings,  changing  it  into  the  joy  of  the  hope  of  glory. 
Is  this  joy  thy  portion  ?  Let  us  believe  that  he,  who  is  now 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour,  is  indeed  able  to  make  all 
a  reality  to  us,  so  that,  as  those  who  are  one  with  Him  by 
7 


98  XLbc  tbolicst  of  ail 


the  double  bond  of  the  birth  from  God,  and  the  birth  in  flesh 
and  blood,  we  may  be  His  ransomed.  His  sanctified  ones,  His 
beloved  brethren.  He  gave  Himself  to  be  wholly  like  us  and 
for  us — shall  we  not  give  ourselves  to  be  wholly  like  Him  and 
for  Him  ? 

1.  "  Through  death  destroyed  him  that  had  the  power  of  death."  Death  had  its  power  from 
the  law.  There  was  no  wnij  of  conquering  it  but  by  fulfilling  its  claim.  Through  death  He 
destroyed  death.  This  is  the  way  for  us  too.  As  I  give  myself  up  to  death,  as  I  give  up  the  sin- 
ful life,  and  die  to  self  in  the  power  of  Christ's  death,  the  power  of  His  deliverance  will  woih  in 
me. 

2.  Through  death  to  life.  This  is  the  law  of  nature,  as  seen  in  every  corn  of  wheat.  This 
is  the  law  of  the  life  of  Christ,  as  seen  in  His  resurrection.  This  is  the  law  of  the  life  of  faith, 
to  be  felt  and  experienced  every  day,  as  the  power  of  the  New  Death  which  Christ  died,  and  the 
New  Life  He  Hues,  worhs  in  us. 

3.  The  first  chapter  revealed  to  us  the  divinity  of  Christ,  as  the  foundation  of  the  gospel,  that 
we  might  know  that  all  that  He  accomplished  in  His  humanity  has  been  effected  in  divine  reality, 
and  worhs  in  us  in  divine  creative  power. 


^be  Iboltest  ot  m\  99 


XVIII. 

A  HIGH  PRIEST  ABLE  TO   SUCCOUR. 

II.— 16.  For  verily  not  of  angels  doth  he  take  hold,  but  he  taketh  hold 
of  the  seed  of  Abraham. 

17.  Wherefore  it  behoved  him  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  his 
brethren,  that  he  might  be^  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in  things 
pertaining  to  God,  to  make  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 

18.  For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  suc- 
cour them  that  are  tempted. 

In  the  first  chapter  we  saw  the  writer  quoting  text  after  text 
from  the  Old  Testament,  in  order  that  he  might  bring  us  to  the 
full  apprehension  of  the  truth  and  the  meaning  of  our  Lord's 
divinity.  In  this  chapter  we  see  him  in  the  same  way,  time 
after  time,  reiterate  the  fact  of  our  Lord's  humanity,  lest  we 
should  not  fully  realise  all  that  it  means.  So  it  is  here.  He 
had  just  said,  Since  the  children  were  sharers  of  flesh  and 
blood,  He  also  Himself  in  like  manner  partook  of  the  same. 
It  is  as  if  He  feels  the  insufficiency  of  the  words,  and  therefore 
once  again  repeats  and  confirms  his  statement :  For  verily 
not  of  angels  doth  He  take  hold,  but  He  taketh  hold  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham.  Man  may  have  been  made  lower  than  the 
angels,  but  this  honour  have  they  not,  that  He  took  hold  of 
them — He  taketh  hold  of  the  seed  of  Abraham. 

And  how  doth   He  take  hold  ?     There  is  no  way  in  which 
God   can   take  hold  of  a  creature  other  than  by  entering  into 

'  Become. 


100  zbe  -fcollest  of  ail 


him  witli  His  life  and  spirit,  so  impartinf^  His  own  goodness  and 
power,  and  bringing  him  into  union  with  Himself.  So  did 
Jesus  take  hold  of  man.  He  entered  into  humanity  and  became 
one  with  it.  And  so  he  takes  hold  of  individual  souls  by 
entering  with  each  into  personal  union  and  fellowship. 

Wherefore,  being  thus  minded  to  take  hold  of  man,  it  be- 
hoved Him,  it  was  divinely  right  and  proper,  and,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  an  absolute  necessity,  as  a  consequence  of  His  purpose, 
it  behoved  Him  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  His  brethren. 
The  laying  hold  implied  His  identifying  Himself  with  them, 
and  this  again  was  impossible  without  being  made  like  them  in 
all  things.  So  only  could  He  save  them.  It  was  indeed  need- 
ful, that  so  He  might  become  a  merciful  and  a  faithful  High 
Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  propitiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  people. 

Here  we  have,  for  the  first  time,  the  word  High  Priest — a 
word  which  is  used  in  no  other  book  of  the  New  Testament  of 
our  Lord  Jesus,  but  in  this  Epistle  is  its  central  thought.  We 
shall  see  later  (chap,  v.)  how  inseparably  His  divine  sonship 
and  His  priesthood  are  linked.  Here  we  are  taught  that  His 
real  humanity  is  just  as  much  essential  to  it.  It  is  one  of  the 
remarkable  things  in  the  Epistle  that  it  unfolds  so  wonder- 
fully the  value  of  the  personal  development  in  our  Lord's  life. 
It  ever  connects  the  person  and  the  work  as  inseparable. 

See  it  here.  The  work  He  had  to  do  was — to  make  propi- 
tiation for  the  sins  of  the  people.  Sin  had  incurred  the  wrath 
of  God,  and  His  love  could  not  flow  forth  towards  men  till  the 
sin  had  been  covered  up,  atoned  for,  taken  away.  In  fulfilment 
of  all  that  had  been  taught  us  in  the  Old  Testament  sacrifices, 
Christ  came  to  do  this.  He  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of 
Himself,  and    obtained   everlasting   redemption.      Of  this    the 


?rbe  Iboliest  of  Bll  loi 


Epistle  will  speak  later  on.  What  it  here  seeks  to  press,  is 
that  Christ  became  Man,  not  merely  to  die  and  atone,  but  that 
in  doing  this,  He  might  be  a  faithful  and  merciful  High  Priest. 
His  relation  to  us  was  to  be  a  personal  one.  He  must  Himself 
minister  to  us  the  salvation  He  worked  out.  Everything  would 
depend  upon  His  winning  our  confidence,  getting  possession  of 
our  heart  and  love,  and  as  a  living  Leader  guiding  us  into  the 
path  to  God.  It  is  this  which  makes  His  human  life  on  earth 
so  precious  to  us.  It  proved  Him  faithful :  we  dare  fully  trust 
Him.  It  found  Him  merciful :  we  need  not  fear  coming  to 
Him.  He  was  made  in  all  things  like  unto  His  brethren,  that 
He  might  become  a  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest. 

For  in  that  He  Himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  He  is 
able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted.  The  work  of  our 
High  Priest  does  not  only  consist  in  His  atonement,  nor  even 
in  the  advocacy  and  intercession  which  is  the  fruit  of  that  atone- 
ment. But  above  all,  as  the  result  of  all  these,  in  that  personal 
charge  of  our  spiritual  life  which  He  takes,  in  that  never-ceasing 
succour  which  He  is  able  to  give  in  every  temptation.  This  is 
the  greatest  and  most  blessed  part  of  His  work  in  bringing  us  to 
God,  that,  as  the  Leader  in  the  path  of  suffering  and  perfection, 
He  inspires  us  with  His  own  dispositions,  and,  by  the  mighty 
operation  of  His  Spirit  within  us,  gives  us  His  help  in  every 
time  of  need.  The  one  thing  we  need  is,  to  know  and  trust 
Him  fully.  To  know  Him  as  High  Priest  who  not  only  has 
opened  a  way  to  God  for  us  to  walk  in,  and  not  only  in  heaven 
prays  for  us,  but  who  undertakes  to  keep  us  so  in  fellowship 
with  Himself,  and  under  the  covering  of  His  power,  and  in  the 
experience  of  His  full  redemption,  that  temptation  can  never 
conquer  us.  His  divinity  secures  to  us  His  unfailing  and  never- 
ceasing  presence.     His  humanity  assures  us  of  His  sympathy 


102  ^bc  ibolieet  of  BU 


and  compassion.  More  ever-present  and  more  mighty  than  the 
temptation,  His  unfaih'ng  love  is  always  near  to  gi\e  the  victory. 
He  can  and  will  do  it.  Our  High  Priest  is  a  living,  faithful 
helper :  let  us  trust  Him.  Salvation  is  not  a  thing  He  gives 
us  apart  from  Himself  Full  salvation  is  nothing  but  Jesus 
Himself,  most  compassionately  and  most  faithfully  watching 
over  us  in  daily  life,  most  really  and  fully  giving  and  living 
His  life  in  us.  The  abiding,  indwelling  presence  of  Jesus,  able 
to  succour^  is  the  true  secret  of  the  Christian  life.  F"aith  will 
lead  us  into  the  experience  that  Jesus  is  and  does  all  that  is 
said  of  Him. 

7.  What  a  chapter .'  Jesus  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  Our  Leader,  our  Sanctifier,  our 
Brother,  made  like  to  us,  our  mrrciful  and  faithful  High  Priest,  tempted  as  we  art',  our  helper  in 
temptation.     What  a  Saviour ! 

2.  No  member  of  my  body  can  be  hurt  without  my  feeling  it  and  seel<ing  to  guard  it.  No 
temptation  can  touch  me  without  Jesus  feeling  it  at  once,  and  gluing  succour.  Is  not  the  one 
thing  wc  need  to  know  Him  better,  in  faith  to  realise  His  eurr-present  nearness,  and  to  count  on 
His  help  ? 

3.  The  knowledge  of  Jesus  that  sufficed  for  conversion  will  not  suffice  for  sancti/ication.  For 
the  growth  of  tlie  spiritual  life  it  is  essential  that  we  enter  more  deeply  into  the  hnowledgc  of  all 
that  Jesus  is.  Jesus  is  the  bread  of  heaven,  the  food  of  our  spiritual  life  ;  knowing  Him  better  is 
the  only  way  to  feed  upon  Him. 

4.  Learn  to  regard  every  temptation  as  the  blessed  opportunity  for  trusting  and  realising  the 
succour  of  your  ever-present  High  Priest. 


Zbc  iboltest  of  a»  los 


THIRD  SECTION.-iii.  1-6. 
Christ  Jesus  more  than  Moses. 


XIX. 

CONSIDER  JESUS. 

III.-l.  Wherefore,  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  consider 
the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  confession,  even  Jesus. 

Consider  Jesus !  This  is  the  central  thought  of  the  verse, 
and  of  the  passage  of  which  it  is  a  part,  as  it  is  indeed  of  the 
whole  Epistle.  It  is  the  one  aim  of  the  writer  to  persuade  the 
Hebrews  that,  if  they  but  knew  aright  the  Lord  Jesus  as  the 
faithful,  compassionate,  and  almighty  High  Priest  in  heaven, 
they  would  find  in  Him  all  they  needed  for  a  life  such  as  God 
would  have  them  lead.  Their  life  would  be  in  harmony  with 
their  faith,  in  harmony  with  the  life  of  Him  whom  their  faith 
would  apprehend.  The  words  might  have  been  taken  as  the 
title  of  my  book  :  Consider  Jesus !  is  indeed  the  keynote  of  the 
Epistle. 

The  word  consider,  from  the  root  of  the  Latin  word  for  Star, 
originally  means  to  contemplate  the  stars.  It  suggests  the 
idea  of  the  astronomer,  and  the  quiet,  patient,  persevering, 
concentrated  gaze  with  which  he  seeks  to  discover  all  that  can 
be  possibly  known  of  the  stars  which  the  object  of  his  study  are. 
And  Jesus,  who  is  God,  who  became  man,  and  perfected  our 


104  zbe  Iboltcst  of  Bll 


human  nature  in  His  wonderful  life  of  suffering  and  obedience, 
and  now  dwells  in  heaven  to  communicate  to  us  its  life  and 
blessedness — oh,  what  reason  there  is  for  saying,  Consider 
Jesus.  Gaze  upon  Him,  contemplate  Him.  For  some  increased 
knowledge  of  the  stars  what  devotion,  what  enthusiasm,  what 
sacrifices  are  ofttimes  witnessed.  Oh,  let  the  study  and  posses- 
sion of  the  Son  of  God  waken  our  devotion  and  our  enthusiasm, 
that  we  may  be  able  to  tell  men  what  beauty  and  what  glory 
there  is  in  Jesus. 

Holy  brethren !  Thus  the  Hebrews  are  now  addressed. 
In  the  previous  chapter  the  word  brethren  had  been  used  twice. 
He  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.  It  behoved  Him 
to  be  made  like  unto  His  brethren.  The  sacred  name  is  now 
applied  personally :  Christ's  brethren  are  brethren  'in  Christ. 
And  the  heart  of  the  writer  warms  to  them  personally,  as  he 
seeks  to  urge  them  to  what  with  him  is  indeed  the  one  aim  of 
the  Epistle — Consider  Jesus. 

Holy  brethren!  The  word  holy  had  also  been  just  used. 
He  that  sanctifieth,  maketh  hoi)',  and  they  who  are  sanctified, 
made  holy,  are  all  of  one.  We  saw  how  holiness  is  the 
common  mark  of  Christ  and  His  people  :  their  bond  of  union, 
and  the  great  object  they  both  aim  at.  One  of  the  great 
mysteries  the  Epistle  is  to  re\eal  to  us  is  that  our  great  High 
Priest  has  opened  the  way  for  us  into  the  Most  Holy  Place  or 
the  Holiest  of  All.  In  Hebrew  it  is  the  Holiness  of  Holinesses. 
There  we  have  boldness  of  access,  there  we  are  to  have  our 
dwelling  encircled  by  the  holiness  of  God.  We  must  know 
that  we  are  hoi)'  in  Christ ;  this  will  give  us  courage  to  enter 
into  the  Holiness  of  Holinesses,  to  haxc  God's  holiness  take 
complete  possession,  and  fill  our  whole  being.  It  is  Jesus  who 
makes  holy:    it  is  we   who  are  to  be   made  holy:  what   more 


XLbe  Ibollest  of  ail  los 


natural  than  that  the  thoughts  should  be  coupled  together : 
holy  brethren,  consider  Jesus. 

Holy  brethren !  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  consider 
Jesus !  What  is  elsewhere  spoken  of  as  a  holy  calling  is  here 
named  a  heavenly  calling.  That  does  not  only  mean  a  calling 
from  heaven,  or  a  calling  to  the  heaven,  whence  the  call 
proceeds.  No,  there  is  much  more  in  it.  Heaven  is  not  only 
a  place,  but  a  state,  a  mode  of  existence,  the  life  in  which  the 
presence  of  God  is  revealed  and  experienced  in  its  unhindered 
power.  And  the  heavenly  calling  is  that  in  which  the  power  of 
the  heavenly  life  works  to  make  our  life  heavenly.  When  Jesus 
was  upon  earth  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  nigh  at  hand  ;  after 
He  had  ascended  and  received  the  kingdom  from  the  Father, 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  came  to  this  earth  in  power,  through  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Christians,  at  Pentecost,  were  people 
who  b}^  the  new  birth  entered  into  the  heavenly  kingdom  or 
state  of  life.  And  the  kingdom  entered  into  them.  And  they 
were  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  because  the  spirit  and  the 
life  and  the  power  of  heaven  was  within  them. 

It  is  to  such  men  the  invitation  comes.  Holy  brethren! 
partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling!  consider  Jesus!  If  you 
would  know  what  it  is  to  be  holy  and  to  live  holy,  consider 
Jesus  who  makes  holy!  If  you  would  know  the  privileges  and 
powers  that  belong  to  you  as  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling, 
consider  Jesus  !  He  is  God,  the  King  of  heaven  !  He  is  Man 
who  has  ascended  to  heaven  as  your  Priest  and  Saviour,  has 
opened  it  for  you,  and  can  communicate  its  life  and  blessedness. 
Oh,  consider  Jesus  !  set  your  heart  on  Him  ;  He  will  make 
you  holy  and  heavenly. 

There  is  more  than  one  of  my  readers  who  mourns  that  he 
knows  so  little  what  it   is   to   live  a   holy  and   a   heavenly  life. 


106  zbc  Ibolicst  ot  ail 


Listen,  God's  word  speaks  to  you — Holy  brethren,  partakers  of 
a  heavenly  calling!  consider  Jesus!  This  is  your  weakness: 
you  ha\c  looked  at  yourself  and  your  own  strength  ;  you  have 
not  studied  Jesus!  This  will  be  your  cure:  each  day,  each 
hour,  consider  Jesus,  and  in  Him  you  will  find  all  the  holiness 
and  the  heavenliness  you  need. 

7.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  Epistle  (ill  the  (jlory  of  Jesus  as  He  entered  heauen,  and 
opened  it  for  us,  as  He  became  a  minister  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  and  leads  us  to  dwell 
in  the  Father's  presence,  will  be  opened  to  us.  But  let  us  even  now,  from  the  commencement, 
hold  fast  the  truth  that  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  seated  in  heaven  is  the  power  of  the 
heavenly  calling'  and  the  heavenly  life. 

2.  Do  not  think  that  you  know  all  that  can  be  told  about  Jesus.  Believe  that  there  are 
wonders  of  heavenly  joy  to  be  revealed  to  you  if  you  know  Him  better :  His  divine  nearness 
and  oneness  with  you,  His  ever-present  indwelling  to  succour  and  lead  you.  His  power  to 
bring  you  into  the  Holiest  of  All,  into  the  Father's  presence  and  love,  and  to' keep  you  there, 
will  be  revealed. 


zrbc  Ibolicst  ot  Bll  107 


XX. 

CHRIST  AND  MOSES. 

III.— 1.  Wherefore,  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  consider 
the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  confession,  Jesus. 

2.  Who  was  faithful  to  him  that  appointed  him,  as  also  was  Moses  in  all 
his  house. 

3.  For  he  hath  been  counted  worthy  of  more  glory  than  Moses,  by  so 
much  as  he  that  built  the  house  hath  more  honour  than  the  house. 

4.  For  every  house  is  builded  by  some  one ;  but  he  that  built  all  things  is 
God. 

5.  And  Moses  indeed  was  faithful  in  all  his  house,  for  a  testimony  of  those 
things  which  were  afterward  to  be  spoken : 

6.  But  Christ  as  a  Son,  over  Ms  house ;  whose  house  are  we,  if  we  hold 
fast  our  boldness  and  the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm  vmto  the  end. 

The  writer  had  just  spoken  (ii.  17)  of  Christ  as  a  nwrciful 
and  faithful  High  Priest.  Later  (iv.  14-v.  7),  he  will  speak 
again  of  Him  as  merciful.  Here  he  wishes  first  to  set  before  us 
His  faithfulness.  To  this  end  he  compares  Him  to  Moses,  of 
whom  God  Himself  had  spoken  (Num.  xii.  7) :  "  My  servant 
Moses,  who  is  faithful  in  all  My  house."  But  he  goes  on  at 
the  same  time  to  prove  that  Christ  the  Son  is  more  than  Moses 
the  servant.  We  have  seen  that  Christ  is  more  than  the  angels 
through  whom  the  law  was  given ;  we  shall  yet  see  that  He  is 
more  than  Aaron,  through  whom  the  law  was  ministered  ;  He 
is  more  than  Moses  too,  the  mediator  of  the  law,  the  servant 
in  the  house  of  God.  In  every  aspect  the  New  Testament  has 
more  glory  than  the  Old. 

Moses  and  Aaron  together  represented  God  in   Israel  ;  the 


108  5bc  t>oUcst  of  au 


one  as  apostle  or  messenger,  the  other  as  high  priest.  In  the 
person  of  Jesus  the  two  offices  are  united.  As  High  Priest  He 
is  merciful  as  Aaron  ;  as  Apostle  of  our  profession  He  is 
faithful  as  Moses.  Mo.ses  was  the  great  apostle  or  messenger 
of  God,  the  Old  Testament  type  of  Christ  as  prophet.  He 
had  access  to  God.  and  brought  the  word  of  God  to  the 
people.  Christ  is  the  great  Apostle  or  Prophet  of  the  New 
Covenant.  He  ever  spake  of  Himself  as  the  one  whom  the 
Father  had  sent ;  in  Him,  the  Son,  God  speaks  to  us.  As 
Apostle  He  is  God's  Representative  with  us,  making  God 
known  to  us ;  as  High  Priest,  our  Representative  with  God, 
bringing  us  into  His  presence.  As  High  Priest  He  stands 
linked  to  us  by  His  mercy  and  compassion,  as  He  now, 
having  died  for  us,  helps  us  in  our  temptation  and  "weakness  ; 
as  Apostle  He  pleads  for  God  with  us,  and  proves  Himself 
entirely  faithful  to  Him.  We  need  to  consider  Christ 
Jesus,  not  only  as  a  High  Priest  in  His  mercy,  but  as  the 
Apostle  of  our  profession  who  was  faithful  to  Him  that 
appointed  Him,  as  also  was  Moses  in  all  his  house.  P^aithful- 
ness  is  trustworthiness.  As  we  see  Jesus  faithful  to  Him  who 
appointed  Him,  our  faith  and  trust  will  rise  into  perfect  and 
joyful  assurance  that  He  will  indeed  most  faithfully  fulfil  all 
God's  promises  in  us,  that  in  us  too  He  will  be  faithful  as  a  Son 
over  His  own  house.  Nothing  gives  such  strength  to  faith  as 
resting  on  the  faithfulness  of  Jesus.  The  glory  of  Jesus  is  the 
glory  of  Christianity  ;  is  the  strength  and  glory  of  the  Christian 
life. 

Moses  was  in  every  respect  a  t>-pe  of  Christ.  In  what  he 
suffered  from  his  very  brethren ;  in  his  rejection  by  his  brethren ; 
in  his  zeal  and  his  sacrifice  of  all  for  God  ;  in  his  willingness  to 
die  for  his  peo{)le;  in  his  fellowship  with  God;  we  see  the  marks 


^be  Ibollcst  of  Bll  109 


of  an  apostle,  as  they  were  to  be  perfectly  revealed  in  Christ 
Jesus.  And  yet  it  was  all  only  a  shadow  and  a  prophecy,  a 
testimony  of  things  to  come.  For  He  hath  been  counted 
worthy  of  more  glory  than  Moses,  by  so  much  as  he  that 
built  the  house  hath  more  honour  than  the  house.  For 
every  house  is  builded  by  some  one ;  but  He  that  built  all 
things  is  God.  And  Moses  verily  was  faithful  in  all  his 
house  as  a  servant,  for  a  testimony  of  those  things  which  were 
afterwards  to  be  spoken ;  but  Christ,  as  a  Son  over  His  house. 
Moses  was  himself  but  a  part  of  the  house :  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
builder,  Moses  was  a  servant  in  the  house  ;  Jesus  was  a  Son 
over  His  own  house. 

Whose  house  we  are.  The  true  house,  the  true  dwelling  of 
God,  is  His  people.  In  Christ  we  are  builded  together  for  a 
habitation  of  God  in  the  Spirit.  Of  the  Church,  as  His  body,  of 
the  individual  soul,  Christ  says :  "  We  will  come  and  make  our 
abode."  It  is  the  characteristic  of  spiritual  things  that  each  part 
is  also  a  living  whole.  Collectively  and  individually  we  are 
Christ's  house  :  he  that  would  know  the  faithfulness  of  Christ  in 
His  house,  must  yield  himself  to  be  His  house,  must  allow 
Christ  as  Son  over  His  house  to  be  Master,  to  have  the  keys 
alone,  to  hold  undisturbed  possession  and  rule. 

Whose  house  we  are.  Later  on  we  shall  see  how  the  great 
work  of  Christ,  as  the  great  High  Priest  over  the  house  of  God, 
is  to  open  the  way  into  the  holiest  of  God's  dwelling.  His 
living,  loving  presence.  The  word  we  have  here  to-day  tells 
us  beforehand  that  the  Holiest  is  not  only  with  God,  and  that 
we  must  enter  into  it ;  it  is  also  with  us,  and  God  will  come  in 
to  us  too.  God's  heart  is  our  habitation ;  our  heart  is  God's 
habitation.  When  Jesus  spake,  "  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you," 
He  taught  us  that  mutual  relationship.     The  more  my   heart 


no  Zbe  'boliedt  of  BU 


goes  out  to  Jesus  and  lives  in  Him,  the  more  He  comes  to  live 
in  me. 

Whose  house  we  are.  Would  jou  have  the  full  experience 
of  all  that  means  and  brings  ?  Holy  brethren,  partakers  of  the 
heavenly  calling,  consider  Jesus,  who  is  faithful  to  Him  that 
appointed  Him,  as  a  Son  over  His  house.  Yield  yourself  to 
Him  as  His  house,  and  trust  His  faithfulness  to  do  His  work. 
And,  remember,  as  the  Epistle  teaches  us  the  spiritual  meaning 
of  the  external  symbols  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  we  must 
not  seek  their  fulfilment  again  in  other  external  things,  however 
much  we  conceive  of  them  as  infinitely  higher  and  greater,  but 
in  that  inward  spiritual  experience  which  comes  when  Jesus 
dwells  in  us  as  His  house.  It  is  as  the  Indwelling  Saviour  that 
He  does  His  work,  whether  it  be  Prophet,  Priest,-  or  King. 
Whose  house  zve  air. 

7.  Faithful  to  God.  This  is  the  spirit  of  God's  house,  the  mark  of  being  of  His  household. 
It  was  so  with  Moses  the  servant.  It  was  so  with  Christ  the  Son.  It  must  be  so  through  the 
whole  household.     Be  it  so  with  us :  Faithful  to  God. 

2.  Whose  house  we  are.  Not  lihe  a  house  of  stone  and  wood,  in  which  the  indweller 
has  no  living  connection  with  it.  No,  Christ  dwells  in  us  as  a  life  within  a  life,  inspiring 
us  with  His  own  temper  and  disposition.  Our  moral  and  spiritual  being,  our  power  of  willing 
and  living  and  acting,  within  these  He  comes  and  dwells  in  us  a  divine,  hidden,  but  mighty 
power  and  operation. 

3.  Faithful  as  Son  over  His  house.  But  He  must  be  Master  in  His  own  house.  Not 
only  an  honoured  guest,  while  thou  hast  the  heys  and  the  care.  So  it  is  with  many  Christians. 
So  it  may  not  be.  No,  give  Him  the  heys  :  give  Him  entire  control  over  the  whole  being  :  as 
Son  over  His  house.     He  will  blessedly  prove  how  faithful  He  is  to  Cod  and  to  thee. 

4.  Consider  well  the  faithfulness  of  Christ :  this  will  work  in  thee  the  fulness  of  faith. 


Zbc  Ibolicst  of  mi  111 


XXI. 

IF  WE  HOLD  FAST  OUR  BOLDNESS  FIRM  TO  THE  END. 

III.— 6.  Whosehouse  we  are,  if  we  hold  fast  our  boldness  and  the  glorying 
of  our  hope  firm  unto  the  end. 

Among  the  Hebrew.s  there  were  not  a  few  who  had  gone 
back  and  were  in  danger  of  falling  away.  They  had  given  way 
to  .sloth,  and  liad  lost  the  joy  and  confidence  of  their  first  faith. 
The  writer  is  about  (iii.  y-'w.  13.)  to  sound  a  note  of  solemn 
warning,  to  call  them  to  beware  of  that  evil  heart  of  unbelief, 
which  departs  from  the  living  God.  As  the  transition  he 
writes,  making  the  words  as  it  were  the  text  for  what  follows, 
Whose  house  we  are,  if  we  hold  fast  our  boldness,  and  the 
g-lorying  of  our  hope  firm  to  the  end. 

Holding  fast  firm  to  the  end.  Steadfastness,  perseverance, 
this  is  indeed  the  great  need  of  the  Christian  life.  There  is  no 
question  that  exercises  the  earnest  minister  of  the  gospel  in  our 
days,  as  in  early  times,  more  deeply  than  what  may  be  the  reason 
that  so  many  converts  grow  cold  and  fall  away,  and  what  can  be 
done  that  we  may  have  Christians  who  can  stand  and  conquer. 
How  often  does  it  not  happen,  both  after  times  of  revival  and 
special  effort,  and  also  in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  Church,  that 
those  who  for  a  time  ran  well,  got  so  entangled  in  the  business 
or  the  pleasure  of  life,  the  literature,  or  the  politics,  or  the  friend- 
ships of  the  world,  that  all  the  life  and  the  power  of  their 
profession  is  lost.  They  lack  steadfastness  ;  they  miss  the 
crowning  grace  of  perseverance. 


112  Zbc  l5olici5t  of  ail 


The  words  of  our  text  teach  us  what  the  cause  of  backsHdinjr  is, 
and  whence  the  want  of  power  to  stand  comes,  even  in  those  who 
strive  after  it.  They  show  us  at  the  same  time  what  the  secret 
is  of  restoration,  as  well  as  of  strength  to  endure  unto  the  end. 
Whose  house  we  are,  he  says,  If  we  hold  fast  our  boldness  and 
the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm  to  the  end.  Or,  as  it  is  expressed 
a  few  verses  further  on  (\er.  14)  If  we  hold  fast  the  beginning  of 
our  confidence  firm  unto  the  end.  A  boldness  and  confidence 
that  make  us  abound  in  hope,  that  make  us  glory  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God,  and  glory  in  tribulation  too, — this  it  is  that  makes 
us  strong  to  resist  and  overcome.  Nothing  can  make  us  con- 
querors but  the  bold  and  joyful  spirit  that  day  by  day  glories 
in  the  hope  of  what  God  will  do. 

It  is  in  this  that  so  many  fail.  When  first  they  found  peace 
they  learnt  that  they  were  saved  by  faith.  They  understood 
that  pardon  and  acceptance  and  peace  and  life  all  come  by  faith 
alone.  Rut  they  did  not  understand  that  we  can  only  stand  by 
faith;  that  we  must  always  walk  by  faith;  that  ever  and  increas- 
ingly we  must  live  by  faith ;  and  that  every  day  and  every  hour 
nothing  can  help  us  but  a  clear,  definite,  habitual  faith  in  God's 
power  and  working,  as  the  only  possibility  of  growth  and  pro- 
gres.s.  They  sought  to  hold  fast  the  light  and  blessing  and  the 
joy  they  had  found  ;  they  knew  not  that  it  was  their  boldness  of 
faith,  the  glorying  of  their  hope,  the  beginning  of  their  con- 
fidence,— that  this  it  was  they  needed  to  hold  fast  firm  to  the 
end.  And  even  when  they  learnt  something  of  the  need  of 
faith  and  hope,  they  did  not  know  how  indispensable  the 
boldness  of  faith  and  the  glorying  of  hope  were.  No  one 
can  conquer  without  the  spirit  of  a  conqueror.  The  powers  of 
sin  and  Satan,  of  the  world  and  the  flesh,  are  so  great,  only  he 
who  is  bold  and  glories  in  his  hope  upon  what  God  will  do  will 


Zbc  IboUest  of  Bll  113 


have  strength  to  resist  them.  And  he  only  can  be  bold  to  face 
the  enemy  who  has  learnt  to  be  bold  with  God,  and  to  glory  in 
Him.  It  is  when  faith  becomes  a  joy,  and  hope  is  a  glorying  in 
God,  that  we  can  be  more  than  conquerors. 

The  lesson  is  one  of  the  most  important  the  Christian  has  to 
learn.  We  shall  see  later  on  how  our  whole  Epistle  has  been 
written  to  teach  us  that  boldness  is  the  only  root  of  steadfast- 
ness and  perseverance,  and  therefore  the  true  strength  of  the 
Christian  life  ;  and  how,  too,  its  one  object  is  to  show  what 
abundant  ground  for  the  boldness  we  have  in  the  work  and 
person  and  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

Whose  house  we  are,  if  we  hold  fast  our  boldness  and 
the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm  unto  the  end.  Would  you 
know  the  blessedness  of  all  it  means.  Whose  house  we  are, 
Christ  as  a  Son  is  faithful  in  His  house,  see  here  the  open 
gate.  In  spite  of  all  the  enemies  that  surround  you,  yield  your- 
self boldly  to  Jesus  Christ  as  His — your  heart  a  home  for  Him 
to  dwell  in.  Glory  in  the  hope  of  all  that  He  has  promised  to 
perfect  in  you.  Hold  fast  the  beginning  of  your  confidence 
firm  to  the  end.  Was  not  that  beginning  this,  that  you  con- 
fessed yourself  to  be  nothing,  and  Christ  to  be  all  ?  Did  you  not 
just  cast  yourself  on  His  mighty  saving  power?  Hold  fast  this 
beginning  with  the  greatest  confidence.  He  will  each  moment 
guard  and  keep  His  house,  and  maintain  His  work  within  it. 
Claim  boldly  and  expect  confidently  that  Christ  the  Son  will  be 
faithful  over  His  house  as  Moses  the  servant  was  over  his.  And 
when  the  difficulty  arises  :  But  how  always  to  maintain  this 
boldness  and  glorying  of  hope,  just  remember  the  answer  the 
Epistle  gives,  Consider  Jesus,  who  was  faithful.  Yes,  just 
consider  Jesus  !     How  faithful,  even  unto  death,  He  was  to  God 

in  all  that  He  had  given  Him  to  do  for  us.     Let  that  be  to  us 
8 


114  Zbc  t>oliest  of  ail 


the  assurance  that  He,  who  is  still  the  same  Lord,  will  be  no 
less  faithful  in  all  the  blessed  work  He  can  now  do  in  us,  if  we 
hold  fast  our  boldness  and  the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm 
to  the  end. 

/.  raith  is  the  mother  of  hope.  How  often  a  daughter  can  be  a  help  and  a  strength  to  her 
mother.  So,  as  ot4r  hope  reaches  out  to  the  future  and  glories  in  it,  our  faith  will  grow  into  the 
boldness  that  can  conquer  all. 

2.  Hold  fast  together  what  this  passage  has  Joined :  the  faithfulness  of  Jesus  and  the 
boldness  or  confidence  of  our  faith.    His  faithfulness  is  our  security. 

3.  The  g:lorying  of  our  hope.  Joy  is  not  a  luxury  or  a  mere  accessory  in  the  Christian  life. 
It  is  the  sign  that  we  an  really  living  in  God's  wonderful  love,  and  that  that  love  satisfies  ua, 
"The  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  Joy  in  believing,  that  ye  may  abound  in  hope  through  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. " 

4.  Christ  is  faithful  as  a  Son  over  His  house:  how  confidently  I  may  trust  Him  to  heep 
charge  and  rule  in  it. 


Zbc  Ibollest  of  ail  ii5 


THE    SECOND   WARNING. 

Chap.  iii.  7-iv.  13. 
Not  to  come  short  of  the  promised  Rest. 

XXII. 

ON  HEARING  THE  VOICE  OF  GOD. 

III.— 7.  Wherefore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith, 
To-day,  if  ye  shall  hear  his  voice, 

8.  Harden  not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation, 
Like  as  in  the  day  of  temptation  in  the  wilderness, 

9.  Wherewith  your  fathers  tempted  me  by  proving  me, 
And  saw  my  works  forty  years. 

10.  Wherefore  I  was  displeased  with  this  generation, 
And  said.  They  do  alway  err  in  their  heart: 
But  they  did  not  know  my  ways; 

11.  As  I  sware  in  my  wrath. 

They  shall  not  enter  into  my  rest. 

The  writer  has  such  a  deep  impression  of  the  low  and 
dangerous  state  into  which  the  Hebrews  liad  sunk,  that,  having 
mentioned  the  name  of  Moses,  he  makes  a  long  digression  to 
warn  them  against  being  like  their  fathers  and  hardening  them- 
selves against  Him  who  is  so  much  more  than  Moses.  From 
Ps.  xcv.  he  quotes  what  God  says  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness, 
hardening  its  heart  against  Him,  so  that  He  sv/are  that  they 
should  not  enter  into  His  rest.  The  words  of  the  quotation 
first  point  us  to  what  is  the  great  privilege  of  God's  people ; 


116  ZbC  t>Oll€dt  Ot  Bll 


they  hear  His  voice  ;  then,  to  their  great  danger,  hardening  the 
heart  against  that  voice.  Not  to  the  unbelieving  Jews,  but  to 
the  Christian  Hebrews  are  these  words  of  warning  directed. 
Christians  in  our  day  have  no  less  need  of  them.  Let  us  take 
more  abundant  heed  to  the  word  :  Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost 
saith,  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts. 

When  God  spake  to  Israel,  the  first  thing  he  asked  of  them 
was  a  heart  that  did  not  harden  itself,  but  that  in  meekness  and 
gentleness,  in  tenderness  and  docilit}'  turned  itself  to  listen  to 
His  voice.  How  much  more  may  He  claim  this,  now^  that  He 
speaks  to  us  in  His  Son.  As  the  soil  must  be  broken  up  by  the 
plough  and  softened  by  the  rain,  so  a  broken,  tender  spirit  is  the 
first  requisite  for  receiving  blessing  from  God's  word,  or  being 
in  truth  made  partakers  of  God's  grace.  As  we  read  in  Isaiah, 
"  To  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  and  of  a  con- 
trite heart,  and  trembleth  at  My  word."  When  this  disposition 
exists,  and  the  thirsty  heart  truly  waits  for  divine  teaching,  and 
the  circumcised  ear  opens  to  receive  it,  God's  voice  will  bring  real 
life  and  blessing,  and  be  the  power  of  lixing  fellowship  with 
Himself.  Where  it  is  wanting,  the  word  remains  unfruitful,  and 
we  go  backward,  however  much  head  and  mouth  be  filled  with 
Bible  truth.  Wherefore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  If  ye 
hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  say  what  it  is  that  hardens  the  hearts. 
The  seed  .sown  by  the  wayside  could  !iot  enter  the  soil,  because 
it  had  been  trodden  down  by  the  passers-by.  When  the  world, 
with  its  business  and  its  interests,  has  at  all  times  a  free  passage, 
the  heart  lo.ses  its  tenderness.  W^hen  we  trust  too  much  to  the 
intellect  in  religion,  and  very  great  care  is  not  taken  to  take 
each  word  as  from  God  into  the  heart,  into  its  life  and  love,  the 


^be  Iboliest  of  ail  ii7 


heart  gets  closed  to  the  living  voice  of  God.  The  mind  is  satis- 
fied with  beautiful  thoughts  and  pleasant  feelings  ;  but  the  heart 
does  not  hear  God.  When  we  are  secretly  content  with  our 
religion,  our  sound  doctrine  and  Christian  life,  unconsciously 
but  surely  the  heart  gets  hardened.  When  our  life  does  not 
seek  to  keep  pace  with  our  knowledge,  and  we  have  more 
pleasure  in  hearing  and  knowing  than  obeying  and  doing,  we 
utterly  lose  the  meekness  to  which  the  promise  is  given,  and, 
amidst  all  the  pleasing  forms  of  godliness,  the  heart  is  too  hard 
to  discern  the  voice  of  the  Spirit.  More  than  all,  when  unbelief, 
that  walks  by  sight,  and  looks  at  itself  and  all  around  in  the 
light  of  this  world,  is  allowed  to  have  its  way,  and  the  soul  does 
not  seek  in  childlike  faith  to  live  in  the  invisible,  as  revealed  in 
the  word,  the  heart  gets  so  hardened  that  God's  word  never 
enters.  Yes,  it  is  an  unspeakably  solemn  thought,  that  with  a 
mind  occupied  with  religious  truth,  and  feelings  stirred  at  times 
by  the  voice  and  words  of  men,  and  a  life  apparently  given  to 
religious  works,  the  heart  may  be  closed  to  the  humble,  direct 
intercourse  with  God,  and  a  stranger  to  all  the  blessing  the 
living  word  can  bring.  Wherefore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost 
saith,  If  ye  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  heart. 

Let  all  who  would  seek  the  blessing  to  be  found  in  this 
Epistle,  beware  of  studying  it  simply  as  an  inspired  treatise  on 
divine  things.  Let  it  be  to  us  a  personal  message,  the  voice  of 
God  speaking  to  us  in  His  Son.  Let  us,  under  a  sense  of  the 
spiritual  mystery  there  is  in  all  divine  truth,  and  the  impotence 
of  the  human  mind  rightly  to  apprehend  spiritual  things,  open 
our  heart  in  great  meekness  and  docility  to  wait  on  God.  The 
whole  of  religion,  and  the  whole  of  salvation,  consists  in  the 
state  of  the  heart.  God  can  do  nothing  for  us,  in  the  way  of 
imparting  the  blessings  of  redemption,  but  as  He  does  it  in  the 


118  '  Jibe  Dollest  of  ail 


heart.  Our  knowledge  of  the  words  of  God  will  profit  nothing 
but  as  the  heart  is  opened  to  receive  Himself  to  fulfil  Mis  words 
in  us.  Let  our  first  care  be,  a  meek  and  lowly  heart,  that  waits 
on  Him.  God  speaks  in  His  Son,  to  the  heart,  and  in  the  heart. 
It  is  in  the  heart  that  the  voice  and  the  Son  of  God  must  be 
received.  The  voice  and  the  word  have  weight  according  as  we 
esteem  the  speaker.  As  we  realise  the  glory  and  the  majesty  of 
God,  His  holiness  and  perfection,  His  love  and  tenderness,  we 
shall  be  ready  to  sacrifice  everything  to  hear  what  He  speaks, 
and  receive  what  He  gives.  We  shall  bid  all  the  world  around 
us,  all  the  world  within  us,  be  silent  that  we  may  hear  aright 
the  voice  of  the  divine  Being  speaking  to  us  in  the  Son  of 
His  love. 

7.  Salvation  will  be  found  in  these  two  things—God  speaking  to  me  in  His  Son,  and  my  heart 
opening  to  hear  His  voice.  It  is  not  only  in  order  to  salvation,  as  a  means  to  an  end  that  is  some- 
thing different  and  higher,  that  He  speaks.  No,  His  speaking  gives  and  is  salvation,  the  revela- 
ton  of  Himself  to  my  soul.  Let  the  work  of  my  life  be  to  hearken  with  a  meek  and  tender 
spirit. 

2.  The  Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia  to  give  heed  to  the  things  which  were  spoken.  This  is 
what  we  need.  God  Himself  will  draw  our  heart  away  from  all  else,  and  open  it  to  take  heed. 
Let  us  ask  this  very  earnestly. 

3.  Nothing  so  effectually  hinders  hearing  God's  voice  as  opening  the  heart  too  much  to  other 
voices.  A  heart  too  deeply  interested  in  the  news,  the  literature,  the  society  of  this  world,  can- 
not hear  the  divine  voice.  It  needs  stillness,  retirement,  concentration,  to  give  God  the  heed  He 
claims. 


^bc  Iboliest  of  ail  119 


XXIII. 

EVEN  AS  THE  HOLY  GHOST  SAITH. 

Ill— 7.  Wherefore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day  if  ye  shall  hear 
his  voice. 

In  quoting  the  words  of  the  95th  Psahn  the  writer  uses  the 
expression,  Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith.  He  regards  that 
Psalm  as  simply  the  language  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  looks 
upon  the  Scriptures  as  truly  inspired  by  God,  God-breathed, 
because  men  spake  from  God,  being  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
(2  Tim.  iii.  16,  2  Pet.  i.  21).  He  regards  them  as  the  very  voice 
of  God,  and  attaches  to  the  words  all  the  weight  of  divine 
authority,  and  all  the  fulness  of  meaning  they  have  in  the 
divine  mind.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  he  sees  in  them  a  deeper 
meaning  than  we  would  have  looked  for,  and  teaches  us  to  find 
in  the  words,  ^///ev  i;i/o  my  rest,  the  revelation  of  a  deep  spiritual 
mystery  and  a  prophecy  of  what  Christ  should  bring.  As  it 
was  the  Holy  Spirit  who  of  old  first  gave  the  word,  so  it  was 
the  same  Spirit  who  taught  the  apostle  to  set  forth  to  us  its 
spiritual  meaning  and  lessons,  as  we  have  them  in  the  fourth 
chapter.  And  even  now  it  is  that  same  spirit  alone  who  can 
reveal  the  truth  spiritually  within  us,  and  make  it  life  and  power 
in  our  experience.  Let  us  wait  on  Him  as  we  meditate  on 
these  words.  Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith.  The  words  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  need  the  Holy  Ghost  as  their  interpreter.    And 


120  Cbe  Iboliest  ot  ail 


the  Holy  Ghost   interprets  only  to  those  in  whom  He  dwells 
and  rules. 

In  the  opening  words  of  the  Epistle  we  were  told  that  it  was 
the  same  God,  who  had  spoken  to  the  fathers  in  the  prophets, 
who  has  now  spoken  to  us  in  His  Son.  The  inferiority  of  the 
Old  Testament  did  not  consist  in  this  that  the  words  were  less 
the  words  of  God  than  in  the  New.  They  are  equally  the 
words  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  the  superior  excellence  of  the 
new  dispensation  lies  in  this  that,  in  virtue  of  the  mighty 
redemption  wrought  out  by  Christ,  taking  away  the  veil  between 
God  and  us,  and  the  veil  from  our  eyes  and  heart  (Heb.  x.  20, 
Is.  XXV.  7,  2  Cor.  iii.  16),  the  word  can  enter  more  fully  into  us 
with  its  life-giving  power.  The  Son  of  God,  as  the  living  Word, 
dwelling  in  us  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  brings  the  'truth  and 
the  power  of  the  word  as  a  divine  reality  into  our  living 
experience.  The  Old  Testament  was  as  the  bud  ;  in  the  New 
the  bud  has  opened  and  the  flower  is  seen.  Even  as  the  Holy 
Ghost  saith.  This  word  assures  us  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
Himself  unfold  in  the  New  what  He  had  hidden  in  the  words 
of  the  Old. 

This  brings  us  to  a  lesson  of  the  very  deepest  importance  in 
our  spiritual  life  :  that  what  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  spoken,  He 
alone  can  make  plain.  He  uses  human  words  and  thoughts, 
and,  as  regarded  from  the  human  side,  human  reason  can 
understand  and  expound  them.  But  even  in  one  who  may  be 
a  true  Christian,  this  does  not  bring  him  farther  than  the  Old 
Testament,  the  preliminarj-  stage:  "The  prophets  sought  and 
searched  diligently  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
which  was  in  them  did  point  unto"  (i  Pet.  i.  Ii).  Beyond  this, 
to  the  real  possession  and  experience  of  the  redemption  they 
proclaimed,  they  did  not  come.     It  was  only  when  Christ  was 


Cbe  Ibolicst  of  Bll  121 


glorified,  and  the  Spirit  was  given  as  an  indwelling  fountain  of 
light  and  life,  that  the  divine  meaning  and  power  could  be 
known.  And  so  it  is  with  ourselves  ;  to  understand  the  words 
of  tJte  Holy  Spirit  I  must  have  yielded  myself  to  be  led  by  the 
Spirit,  I  must  be  living  in  the  Spirit.  It  is  only  one  who  knows 
Hebrew  who  can  expound  a  Hebrew  writing  ;  it  is  only  the 
Spirit  of  God  who  knows  the  mind  of  God  and  can  reveal  it 
to  us.  Take,  for  instance,  what  is  said  of  entering  into  the  rest 
of  God,  anyone  who  will  take  trouble,  and  study  it  carefully, 
will  be  able  to  form  some  conception  of  what  it  means.  But 
truly  to  know  the  rest  of  God,  to  enter  into  it,  to  enjoy  it  in 
living  power, — none  but  the  Holy  Spirit  can  teach  us  this. 

Wherefore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day  if  ye  shall 
hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  heart.  Here  is  the  first  lesson 
the  Holy  Spirit  teacheth.  He  calls  us  not  to  harden  or  close 
the  heart,  but  to  hearken  to  the  voice  of  God  there  ;  the  Holy 
Spirit  cannot  possibly  lead  us  into  the  poiver  and  the  blessing  of 
God's  ivord  unless  with  our  zvhole  heart  we  Jiearken  to  the  voice. 
The  Holy  Spirit  can  teach  in  no  way  but  in  a  heart  that  is 
given  up  to  hearken  and  obey.  When  the  Son  came  into  the 
world  he  spake  :  Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will,  0  God.  The  proof 
of  the  Spirit's  presence  in  Him,  the  sacrifice  in  the  power  of  the 
Eternal  Spirit,  the  way  to  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  was 
that  of  hearkening  and  obedience.  The  first  message  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  the  condition  of  all  further  teaching  is  ever, 
If  ye  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  heart.  God  has  sent  the 
Spirit  of  His  Son  into  our  heart;  God  asks  us  to  yield  our  whole 
heart  to  His  leading;  it  is  as  the  indwelling  Spirit  that  He  will 
call  us  and  fit  us  to  listen  to  God's  voice. 

We  are  commencing  the  study  of  an  Epistle  of  which  the 
keynote  is,  God  speaks  to  us  now  in  His  Son.     The  wonderful 


122  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  all 


truths  of  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  and  of  our 
access'into  the  I  loh'cst  of  All  by  the  blood,  to  dwell  and  worship 
there,  and  there  in  God's  presence  to  be  made  partaker  of  the 
full  union  with  Christ,  are  to  be  unfolded.  Let  us  seek  a  deeper 
sense  of  the  need,  and  also  the  ccrtaint}',  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Spirit  within  us:  Let  us  pray  "that  the  I'^ather  j^ive  us  the  Spirit 
of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ."  Let  us 
hear  God's  voice  in  meekness  and  tenderness  of  heart.  Let  us 
in  deep  humility  yield  ourselves  to  the  Spirit's  guidance.  We 
can  count  upon  it  that  the  same  Spirit  who  first  of  old  inspired 
the  words  of  the  Psalm,  who  then  in  this  Ei^istle  revealed  their 
fulness  of  meaning,  will  reveal  to  us  in  power  all  the  light  and 
truth  they  are  meant  to  bring  into  the  believing  heart. 

1.  God  speaking  to  us  in  His  word,  and  in  His  Son,  is  all  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Everything 
depends  upon  our  right  relation  to  the  Spirit.  Let  the  word  be  as  a  seed  in  which  the  life  of  God 
dwells.  Let  us  receive  the  word,  in  the  faith  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will  open  it,  and  make  it 
work  mightily,  in  us  who  believe. 

2.  And  as  we  wait  on  the  Spirit  to  open  the  word,  wc  shall  through  the  word  be  led  to  and 
receive  the  spirit  of  heaven,  as  the  divine  seal  of  our  faith  in  the  word. 

3.  So  shall  wc  learn  to  speak  the  word  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  The  disciples,  however  much 
they  knew  of  Jesus  through  His  intercourse  and  teaching,  and  as  the  witnesses  of  His  death  and 
resurrection,  wire  not  allowed  to  go  and  preach  Him,  until  they  received  the  Spirit  from  on  high. 
The  Spirit  breathed  word,  the  Spirit-opened  word,  must  also  be  a  Spirit-spokcn  word;  wc,  too, 
must  speak  out  of  a  living  communication  of  the  Spirit  from  the  throne  of  the  glorified  Christ. 
From  beginning  to  end,  everything  connected  with  God's  word  must  be  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  ail  123 


XXIV. 

TO-DAY. 

III.  -7.  Wherefore,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day,  if  ye  shall  hear 
His  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts. 

These  words  are  generally  applied  to  the  unconverted  ;  the 
Psalm  in  which  they  occur,  and  the  context  in  which  they  stand 
in  this  Epistle,  both  prove  that  they  are  meant  for  God's  people. 
In  all  the  dealings  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  believers,  be  they 
weak  and  erring,  or  strong  and  glad,  His  great  word  to  them 
is,  To-day. 

The  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day.  What  does  this  mean  ? 
God  is  the  Eternal  One.  With  Him  there  is  no  yesterday  or 
to-morrow;  what  we  call  past  and  future  are  with  Him  an 
ever-present  Now ;  His  life  is  an  ever-blessed,  never-ending 
To-day.  One  of  the  great  words  of  this  Epistle  in  regard  to 
Christ  and  His  salvation  is  the  word  Eternal,  For  ever.  He  has 
become  the  author  of  eternal  salvation — that  is,  a  salvation 
which  bears  the  character  of  eternity  ;  its  chief  mark  is  that  it 
is  an  ever-present  Now — that  there  is  not  a  moment  in  which 
Christ,  who  ever  lives  to  pray  for  us,  is  not  able  to  maintain  us 
in  it  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life. 

Man  is  the  creature  of  a  moment  ;  the  past  has  gone  from 
him,  and  over  the  future  he  has  no  control ;  it  is  only  the 
present  moment  that  is  his.  Therefore  it  is  that,  when  he  is 
made  partaker  of  Christ,  a  High  Priest  for  ever,  and  the  eternal 


124  zbe  Doltcet  of  ail 


salvation  He  imparts,  God's  great  word  to  him  is  To-day.  In 
Christ  all  the  blessedness  of  the  great  eternity  is  gathered  up 
in  an  ever-present  Now :  the  one  need  of  the  believer  is  to  know 
it,  to  respond  to  it,  and  to  meet  the  To-day,  the  Now,  my  child  ! 
of  God's  grace  with  the  To-day,  the  Even  now,  my  Father !  of 
his  faith. 

If  you  would  understand  the  meaning  of  this  divine  To-day, 
look  at  it  in  its  wondrous  setting.  Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost 
saith,  To-day.  Satan's  word  is  ever  To-morrow,  man's  favourite 
word,  too.  To-morrow.  Even  with  the  child  of  God  the  word 
of  unbelief  is  too  often  To-morrow  ;  God's  demand  is  too  great 
for  to-day ;  God's  promise  too  high  ;  we  hope  it  will  come 
easier  later  on.  The  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day.  That  means 
that  He  who  is  the  mighty  power  of  God  is  Himself  ready  to 
work  in  us  all  that  God  wills  and  asks  ;  it  is  He  who  is  each 
moment  pleading  for  immediate  surrender,  for  a  present  trust, 
because  He  bears  with  Him  the  power  of  a  present  salvation. 

To-day!  it  is  a  word  of  wonderful  promise.  It  tells  that 
To-day,  this  very  moment,  the  wondrous  love  of  God  is  for 
thee — it  is  even  now  waiting  to  be  poured  out  into  thy  heart ; 
that  To-day,  all  that  Christ  has  done,  and  is  now  doing  in 
heaven,  and  is  able  to  do  within  thee — this  very  day,  it  is  within 
thy  reach.  To-day  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  whom  there  is  the 
pouer  to  know  and  claim  and  enjoy  all  that  the  Father  and  the 
Son  are  waiting  to  bestow,  to-day  the  Holy  Ghost  is  within 
thee,  sufficient  for  every  need,  equal  to  every  emergency.  With 
every  call  we  find  in  our  Bible  to  full  and  entire  surrender  ; 
with  every  promise  we  read  of  grace  for  the  supply  of  temporal 
and  spiritual  need  ;  with  ever)'  prayer  we  breathe,  and  every 
longing  that  rules  in  our  heart,  there  is  the  Spirit  of  promise 
whispering,  To-day.    Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day. 


trbe  tboliest  of  ail  125 


To-day!  it  is  a  word  of  solemn  command.  It  is  not  here 
a  question  of  some  liigher  privilege  which  you  are  free  to  accept 
or  reject.  It  is  not  left  to  your  choice,  O  believer,  whether  you 
will  receive  the  fulness  of  blessing  the  Holy  Spirit  offers.  That 
To-day  of  the  Holy  Ghost  brings  you  under  the  most  solemn 
obligation  to  respond  to  God's  call,  and  to  say,  Yes,  To-day, 
Lord,  complete  and  immediate  submission  to  all  Thy  will  ; 
To-day,  the  surrender  of  a  present  and  a  perfect  trust  in  all 
Thy  grace.    Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day. 

To-day !  a  word,  too,  of  earnest  warning.  Even  as  the  Holy 
Ghost  saith,  To-day,  if  ye  shall  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts.  They  shall  not  enter  hito  My  rest.  There  is  nothing  so 
hardening  as  delay.  When  God  speaks  to  us,  He  asks  for  a 
tender  heart,  open  to  the  whispers  of  His  voice  of  love.  The 
believer  who  answers  the  To-day  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  the 
To-morrow  of  some  more  convenient  season,  knows  not  how  he 
is  hardening  his  heart ;  the  delay,  instead  of  making  the  sur- 
render and  obedience  and  faith  easy,  makes  it  more  difficult. 
It  closes  the  heart  for  to-day  against  the  Comforter,  and  cuts 
off  all  hope  and  power  of  growth.  O  believer,  Even  as  the  Holy 
Ghost  saith.  To-day,  so  when  you  hear  His  voice,  open  the 
heart  in  great  tenderness  to  listen  and  obey ;  obedience  to  the 
Spirit's  To-day  is  your  only  certainty  of  power  and  of  blessing. 

To  all  Christians  whose  life  has  been  one  of  feebleness  and 
of  failure,  who  have  not  yet  entered  into  the  rest  of  faith,  into 
God's  own  rest,  this  word  To-day  is  the  key  to  all  their  dis- 
appointments and  to  all  their  failures.  You  waited  for  strength, 
to  make  obedience  easier  ;  for  feeling,  to  make  the  sacrifice  less 
painful.  You  did  not  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  breathing- 
through  every  word.  He  speaks  that  wondrous  note,  even 
through  the  living  word,  Jesus  Christ,  that  wondrous  note  of 


126  (XbC  IboUcdt  of  BU 


hope,  To-day.  You  thought  it  meant  for  the  sinner  a  call  to 
immediate  repentance  ;  you  did  not  know  that  it  means  for 
the  believer,  each  time  he  hears  the  voice,  immediate,  whole- 
hearted submission  to  all  God  says,  immediate  trustful  accept- 
ance of  all  He  gives.     And  yet  just  this  is  what  it  does  mean. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we  have  a  very  wonderful 
e.xhibition  of  what  Christ,  as  a  High  Priest  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  can  do  for  us  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  The 
entering  into  the  rest  of  God,  the  perfect  cleansing  of  the 
conscience  in  the  blood  through  which  He  entered  into  the 
presence  of  God,  our  access  within  the  veil  into  the  presence  of 
God,  the  being  brought  close  to  the  very  heart  of  God,  the 
being  taken  up  and  kept  in  Christ  in  the  love  of  God, — these 
blessings  are  all  ours.  And  over  each  of  them  is  written  the 
words.  Now  is  the  accepted  time.  Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost 
saith,  To-day. 

1.  Brother,  let  you  and  inn  bow  in  great  stillness  before  God  to  hear  this  wonderful  message  : 
the  Holy  Ghost  whispering,  To-day,  To-day.  Let  our  whole  heart  open  up  to  take  it  in.  Let  all 
fear  and  unbelief  pass  away  as  we  remember  :  it  is  the  Holy  Ghost  Himself,  the  giuer  of  strength, 
the  dispenser  of  grace,  the  reuealor  of  Jesus,  who  says  To-day. 

2.  Let  our  faith  simply  listen  to  God's  voice,  until  it  rings  through  our  soul  day  by  day,  and 
all  the  day.  We  shall  take  God's  word  To-day,  and  make  it  our  own.  We  shall  meet  this 
wonderful  To-day  of  God's  love  with  the  confident  To-day  of  our  faith.  And  it  will  become  to  us 
a  foretaste  of  that  eternal  To-day  in  which  He  dwells. 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit's  To-day,  accepted  and  lived  in,  will  be  within  us  the  power  of  an  endless 
life,  the  experience  of  an  eternal  salvation,  as  an  ever-present,  never-ceasing  reality.  "  Even  as 
the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day." 

4.  Just  yesterday  I  heard  a  servant  of  God  testify  that  at  his  conversion  he  was  led  to  say  .- 
I  am  going  to  do  the  will  of  God  to-day,  without  thinking  of  to-morrow ;  and  he  had  found  the 
unspeakable  blessing  of  it.  Let  anyone  begin  to  live  a  whole-hearted  life,  by  the  grace  of  God,  for 
one  day:  for  to-morrow  will  be  as  to-day,  and  still  better. 


Zbc  IboUest  of  ail  127 


XXV. 

AN   EVIL    HEART    OF    UNBELIEF. 

III.— 12.  Take  lieed,  brethren,  lest  haply  there  shall  be  in  any  one  of  you 
an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in  falling  away  from  the  living  God. 

The  great  practical  aim  of  the  Epi.stle  is  to  call  u.s  to  faith.  It 
is  with  this  view  that  it  will  show  us  what  a  sure  ground  we  have 
for  it  in  the  word  and  oath  of  God,  in  the  person  and  power  of 
our  heavenly  High  Priest.  It  will  remind  us  how  unbelief  has 
been  the  cause  of  all  falling  away  from  God,  and  all  failing  of 
entrance  into  the  enjoyment  of  His  promise  and  His  rest,  as 
faith  has  in  all  ages  been  the  one  power  in  which  God's  saints 
have  lived  and  worked.  It  has  already  spoken  of  "  holding  fast 
our  boldness  and  the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm  to  the  end  ";  it  here 
uses  the  word  "  believe  "  for  the  first  time  in  the  call  to  beware  of 
an  evil  heart  of  unbelief. 

An  evil  heart  of  unbelief.  Think  a  moment  of  what  the 
expression  means.  And  note  first  the  place  the  heart  takes 
in  religion.  We  have  heard  the  warning  (ver.  7),  Harden 
not  your  hearts.  It  is  in  the  heart  God  speaks,  and  where 
He  longs  to  give  His  blessing.  On  that  there  followed  God's 
complaint,  "  They  do  alway  err  in  their  /leart ;  they  did  not 
^notu  my  ways."  It  is  a  heart  that  goes  wrong  that  cannot 
know  God's  ways.  And  so  here  again,  it  is  the  evil  heart 
that  cannot  believe,  that  falls  away  from  the  living  God.     Do 


128  XLbc  -toolicet  ot  ail 


let  us,  in  our  study  of  the  Epistle  and  in  our  whole  religious  life, 
beware  of  rejoicing  in  beautiful  thoughts  and  happy  feelings, 
while  the  heart,  with  its  desire  and  will  and  love,  is  not  wholly 
given  up  to  God.  In  our  intercourse  with  God,  everything 
depends  on  the  heart.  It  is  with  the  heart  man  believeth  and 
receiveth  the  salvation  of  God. 

An  evil  heart   of  unbelief.      Many   think   and    speak   of 
unbelief  as  a  frailty  ;  they  wish  to  believe,  but  do  not  feel  able  ; 
their  faith,  they  say,  is  too  weak.     And  of  course  they  have  no 
sense  of  guilt  or  shame  connected  with  it :  not  being  able  to  do 
a  thing  is  counted  a  sufficient  excuse  for  not  doing  it.     God 
thinks  different!)-.     The  Holy  Ghost  speaks  of  the  evil  heart  of 
unbelief     The   heart    is    the   organ    God    created    in    man    for 
holding    fellowship    with    Himself       Faith    is    its    fitst    natural 
function  ;  by  faith  and  love  it  lives  in  God.     It  is  the  ear  that 
hears  the  voice  of  God,  the  eye  that  can  ever  see  Him  and  the 
unseen  world  ;  the  capacity  for  knowing  and  receiving  all  that 
God  can  communicate.     It  begins  as  trust  in  the  word  spoken  ; 
it  grows  into  fellowship  with  the  Person  who  speaks  ;  its  fruit  is 
the  reception  of  all  God  has  to  bestow.     Sin  turned  the  heart 
from  the  unseen  to  the  seen,  from  God  to  self,  and  faith  in  God 
lost  the  place  it   was  meant  to  have,  and   became  a  faith   in 
the  visible  world   and   its  good.      And   now  unbelief,  whether 
avowed   and   definite,  or   more  secret   and   unconscious,  is  the 
great  mark  of  the  evil  heart,  the  great  proof  of  sin,  the  great 
cause   of  everlasting    darkness   and   damnation.      There   is   no 
warning  the  professing  Christian  Church  needs  to  have  sounded 
more  loudly  than   this  one  to  the   Hebrews :  Take  heed  lest 
there  be  in  any  one  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief  in  falling 
away  from  the  living  God. 

In  falling  away  from  the  living  God.    This  is  the  terrible 


a:bc  Iboliest  ot  mi  129 


evil  of  unbelief;  it  incapacitates  a  man  for  holding  fellowship 
with  God  as  the  living  One.  The  expression,  ^/le  living  God, 
occurs  four  times  in  the  Epistle.  In  the  Old  Testament  it  con- 
trasted God  with  the  dead  idols,  who  could  not  hear  or  speak  or 
help.  Alas,  how  often  professing  Christians  have,  instead  of  a 
graven  image,  the  more  dangerous  idol  of  a  thought-image — a 
conception  of  the  mind  to  which  they  bring  their  worship.  The 
living  God,  speaking  in  His  Son,  hearing  them  when  they 
speak,  working  out  in  them  His  mighty  salvation — the  living 
God  who  loves  and  is  loved, — Him  they  know  not.  With  all 
their  Christian  profession  and  religious  exercises  there  is  an  evil 
heart  of  unbelief,  in  falling  away  from  the  living  God. 

Let  us  take  the  warning.  Ere  we  come  to  the  deeper  truth 
the  Epistle  has  to  teach  us,  let  us  learn  well  our  first  lesson  :  the 
one  thing  God  looks  to,  the  one  thing  we  need  to  receive,  the 
fulness  of  blessing  our  great  High  Priest  has  for  us  and  waits 
to  bestow,  is  a  heart  of  faith — a  true  heart  drawing  nigh  to  God 
in  fulness  of  faith  (x.  23),  Take  heed — we  ought  to  give  more 
abundant  heed — lest  there  be  in  any  of  us,  even  for  a  moment,  an 
evil  heart  of  unbelief.  Let  us  cast  out  everything  that  can  cause 
or  can  strengthen  it,  whether  it  be  worldliness  or  formality,  too 
little  knowledge,  or  too  much  head-knowledge  of  God's  word, 
too  little  looking  to  the  state  of  our  heart  or  too  much  occupa- 
tion with  self;  let  us  take  heed  lest  there  be  at  any  time  in  us 
an  evil  heart  of  unbelief  Let  a  tender  heart,  hearkening  to  His 
voice,  listening  to  and  trusting  His  word,  ever  be  the  sacrifice  we 
bring  Him. 

With  the  heart  man  believeth,  whether  in  God  or  the  world. 

As  our  heart  is,  so  is  our  faith,  and  so  our  life.     Our  enjoyment 

of  Christ,  our  spiritual  strength  and  fruitfulness,  our  nearness  to 

God,  and  our  experience  of  His  working  in  us,  all  depend,  not 

9 


130  Cbc  IboUcst  of  Sll 


upon  single,  isolated  acts  of  faith,  but  upon  the  state  of  the 
heart.  Therefore  God  breathes  into  us  the  Spirit  of  faith,  to 
keep  our  lieart  ever  tender  and  open  towards  Him.  Oh,  let 
us  above  everything  beware  of  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief 

And  if  we  would  know  how  true  living  faith  is  to  be  obtained 
and  increased,  note  the  connection.  As  unbelief  falls  away  from 
the  living  God,  so  faith  draws  nigh  to  Him  and  is  fed  and 
nourished  in  His  presence.  Practise  the  presence  of  God  in 
deep  humility  and  stillness  of  heart.  Thirst  for  God,  the  living 
God.  "  My  soul,  be  thou  silent  unto  God  :  for  my  expectation  is 
from  Him."  He  is  the  living  God.  He  sees  and  hears  and 
feels  and  loves.  He  speaks  and  gives  and  works,  and  reveals 
Himself  His  presence  wakens  and  strengthens  and  satisfies 
faith.  Bow  in  lowly  meditation  and  worship  before  the  living 
God,  and  faith  will  waken  up  and  grow  into  boldness  and  the 
glorying  of  hope.  He  is  the  living  God,  ivho  makes  alive,  out 
of  whom  life  comes  into  tJietn  that  draw  near  to  Him:  tarry  in 
His  presence — that,  and  nothing  else,  but  that,  most  surely,  will 
free  thee  from  the  evil  heart  of  unbelief 

7.  Unbelief  and  falling  away  from  the  living  God:  remember  with  holy  fear  the  close  con- 
nection.    They  act  and  react  on  each  other. 

2.  The  faithfulness  of  Jesus  Jills  the  heart  with  the  fulness  of  faith.  You  remember  the 
lesson  ?  Here  it  is  the  same  again :  drawing  nigh  to  the  living  God  will  Jill  the  heart  with 
living  faith.  And  the  Epistle  is  going  to  teach  us  how  God  draws  nigh  to  us  in  Jesus,  and 
how  in  Jesus  we  draw  nigh  to  God. 

3.  Never  spcali  or  think  of  unbelief  as  a  weakness,  but  always  as  the  sin  of  sins,  the  fruitful 
mother  of  all  sin. 

4.  The  living  God  in  heaven,  and  the  believing  heart  on  earth  :  these  are  the  two  powers  that 
meet  and  satisfy  each  other.  Let  thy  faith  know  of  no  other  measure  or  limit  than  the  living 
God.     Let  it  be  living  faith  in  a  living  God. 


Cbe  Ifoollcst  of  ail  131 


XXVI. 

EXHORT  ONE  ANOTHER  DAY  BY  DAY. 

III.— 13.  But  exhort  one  another  day  by  day,  so  long  as  it  is  called  to-day, 
lest  any  one  of  you  be  hardened  by  the  deceitfulness  of  sin. 

In  the  previous  verse  we  read,  "  Take  heed  lest  there  be  in  any 
one  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief."  That  is  not  only,  let  each 
one  look  to  himself,  but  let  all  look  to  it  that  there  be  not  in  any 
one  of  yon  the  e\il  unbelieving  heart.  The  Church  is  one  body ; 
the  sickness  of  one  member  is  a  danger  to  the  whole  body. 
Each  one  must  live  to  care  for  those  around  him.  Each 
member  is  entrusted  by  Christ  to  the  love  and  care  of  his 
brethren,  and  is  dependent  on  their  help.  Believers  who  are 
joined  together  in  one  house,  in  a  neighbourhood,  in  a  church, 
are  responsible  for  one  another  ;  they  must  take  heed  that  there 
be  not  in  anyone  the  unbelief  that  falls  away  from  God.  They 
are  called  to  help  and  encourage  each  other  so  that  all  may  at 
all  times  continue  steadfast  in  the  faith. 

In  our  meditation  on  ver.  6  we  spoke  of  the  painful  fact  that 
in  so  many  cases  the  first  boldness  and  joy  of  hope  is  not  held 
fast  firm  to  the  end.  Here  is  one  cause.  There  is  not  the  care 
and  help  for  each  other  which  the  Lord  intended.  In  caring 
only  for  ourselves,  our  brother  not  only  suffers,  but  we  lose  much 
ourselves.  The  healthy  life  of  the  individual  member  is  de- 
pendent on   the  life  around  him,  and  on  the  part  he  takes  in 


1S2  tLbe  Iboltedt  ot  Bll 


maintaining  that  life.  The  warning  has  a  deeper  significance 
than  we  think:  "Take  heed  lest  there  be  in  any  one  of  you  an 
evil  heart  of  unbelief." 

It  is  this  thought  our  text  seeks  to  enforce  :  But  exhort  one 
another  day  by  day,  lest  any  one  of  you  be  hardened  by  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin.  Christians  are  bound  to  exhort  one  another ; 
it  is  their  duty  and  their  right.  It  is  imjilied  in  the  whole  con- 
stitution of  the  body  of  Christ,  that  the  members  care  for  one 
another.  Its  life  is  entirely  dependent  on  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
who  pleased  not  Himself,  and  that  Spirit  is  a  love  that  seeketh 
not  its  own,  but  has  its  \ery  being  in  loving  and  blessing  others. 
As  each  member  humbly  j-ields  himself  to  be  helped  and  to 
hcl]).  the  safet}'  and  the  vigour  of  all  will  be  secured.  The  com- 
munion of  saints  in  all  our  Church  circles  must  be  proved  in  the 
cultivation  of  a  practical  ministering  love  and  care  for  each  other. 

Exhort  one  another  day  by  day,  so  long  as  it  is  called 
To-day.  We  saw  what  solemn  meaning  there  was  in  the  Holy 
Spirit's  call,  To-day,  if  ye  hear  His  voice.  We  sought  to  apply 
that  personally.  Mere  we  are  taught  that  all  the  urgency  that 
call  implies  must  by  each  one  of  us  be  applied  to  our  neighbour 
as  well  as  our.selves.  We  must  think  of  the  danger  of  delay,  of 
the  time  when  it  will  be  no  longer  To-day  for  those  around  us,  who 
are  forgetting  it,  and  exhort  them  day  by  day.  To-day !  The 
work  is  urgent  and  must  be  done  immediately.  It  may  be 
difficult — He  who  commands  will  enable.  Our  conscious  unfit- 
ness must  drive  us  to  Him  who  can  fill  us  with  the  love  and  the 
boldness,  and  the  wisdom  we  need.  Day  by  day.  The  work  is 
slow,  and  must  be  done  unceasingly,  '^  so  long  as  it  is  called 
To-day."  The  Spirit  of  Jesus  can  give  us  grace  and  patience 
and  faith  to  persevere.  "  In  due  time  wc  shall  reap  if  we  faint 
not." 


Zbe  -fcoliest  of  m\  iss 


Day  by  day.  This  word  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  comple- 
ment of  that  other  To-day.  The  To-day  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
must  day  by  day  be  afresh  accepted  and  obeyed.  It  is  only  as 
we  are  ready,  every  day  without  one  exception,  to  live  fully  in 
the  obedience  to  the  voice  of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus,  that 
our  life  can  grow.  What  has  once,  or  for  a  time,  been  done, 
will  not  avail  ;  day  by  day,  our  fellowship  with  Jesus,  our  con- 
secration to  Him,  our  service  for  Him,  must  be  renewed.  So 
shall  we  in  our  care  for  others,  as  much  as  in  our  personal  walk, 
hold  fast  our  boldness  firm  to  the  end. 

"  Exhort  one  another,  lest  any  one  of  you  be  hardened  by 
the  deceitfulness  of  sin."  We  heard  the  warning,  Harden 
not  your  hearts.  Here  is  its  exposition,  Hardened  by  the  deceit- 
fulness  of  sin.  All  sin  is  deceit,  its  promised  pleasures  are  all 
a  lie.  But  there  are  some  sins  that  are  open  and  unmistakable. 
There  are  others  that  are  specially  deceptive.  Where  the 
sanction  of  the  Christian  world,  or  the  force  of  habit  and  custom, 
or  the  apparent  insignificance  of  what  we  do,  makes  us  think 
little  of  the  sin,  it  has  a  terrible  power  to  deceive  the  professing 
Christian.  And  through  this  deceitfulness  of  sin,  be  it  worldli- 
ness,  or  unlovingness,  or  pride,  or  want  of  integrity,  hearts  are 
hardened,  and  become  incapable  of  hearing  the  voice  of  God. 
What  a  call  to  all  who  are  awake  to  their  own  danger  to  listen, 
"  Exhort  one  another  day  by  day,  lest  any  one  of  you  be 
hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin." 

Let  me  press  upon  everyone  who  would  study  this  Epistle, 
the  solemn  obligation  resting  upon  him  to  care  for  those  around 
him — not  only  the  outcast,  but  those  with  whom  he  is  associated 
in  church  fellowship,  very  specially  any  who  are  in  danger 
of  being  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin.  The  Christ 
unto  whom  we  are  to  grow  up  in  all  things  is  the  Christ  "  from 


134  trbC  tOllCSt  Of  a[[ 


whom  all  the  body,  fitly  framed  and  knit  too^ether,  through  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  working  in  its 
measure  of  each  several  part,  maketh  the  increase  of  the  body 
unto  the  building  up  of  itself  in  love."  Our  connection  with  the 
head,  the  power  of  our  growth  unto  Him  in  all  things,  must  be 
maintained  in  our  love  to  the  members  of  His  body  around, 
however  feeble  or  backward. 

And  if  we  would  know  where  the  grace  for  this  work  is  to 
be  found,  the  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  in  Jesus  Christ  our 
Head  and  in  His  love  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts.  As  in  this 
Epistle  we  study  the  compassion  of  Jesus,  as  our  High  Priest 
and  Leader,  let  us  believe  that  He  makes  us  partakers  of  His 
Spirit.  He  forms  us  in  His  own  likeness.  He  leads  us  in  His 
footsteps.  He  makes  each  of  us  what  He  was,  a  Priest  with  a 
priestly  heart  ready  to  live  and  die  for  those  around  us.  There- 
fore, brethren,  exhort  one  another  day  by  day. 

1.  This  work  is  most  difficult.  But  strength  for  it  will  come  as  for  any  other  work.  First  of  all, 
accept  the  command ;  get  the  heart  filled  with  tiie  sense  of  obligation;  yield  yourself  to  your 
Master  in  willing  obedience,  even  though  you  see  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  doing  it.  Then 
wait  on  Him  for  His  light  and  strength— for  wisdom  to  know  how  to  begin,  for  boldness  to  speak 
the  truth  in  love.  Present  yourself  unto  God  as  one  alive  from  the  dead,  and  your  members  as 
instruments  of  righteousness  in  His  hands.  Let  the  fire  within  the  heart  be  kept  burning  :  the 
grace  of  obedience  will  not  be  withheld. 

2.  This  Epistle  is  an  exposition  of  the  inner  life,  the  life  of  faith.  But  with  this,  work  is 
considered  as  a  matter  of  course  that  needs  no  vindication.  Let  every  Christian  give  himself  to 
his  Lord  to  watch  over  others  :  let  all  the  fresh  grace  and  the  deeper  knowledge  of  Jesut  we  seek 
be  for  the  service  of  those  around  us.     Exhort  one  another  daily. 


UbC  1F30liC6t  of  Bll  135 


XXVII. 

PARTAKERS  OF   CHRIST. 

III.— 14.  For  we  are  become  partakers  of  Christ,  if  we  hold  fast  the  beginning 
of  our  confidence  firm  unto  the  end ;  while  it  is  said, 
15,  To-day,  if  ye  shall  hear  his  voice. 

Harden  not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation. 

In  the  second  chapter  the  twofold  onenes.s  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
and  His  believing"  people  was  set  before  us.  On  the  divine  side 
they  are  one,  for  both  He  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  that  are 
sanctified  are  all  of  one,  that  is,  of  God.  Therefore  He  calls 
them  brethren.  On  the  other,  the  human  side,  they  are  one, 
because  He  became  man,  and  took  our  nature  upon  Him. 
Since  the  children  are  sharers  of  flesh  and  blood.  He  also 
Himself  in  like  manner  partook  of  the  same.  There  we  have 
the  same  word  as  here.  Just  as  truly  as  Christ  became  partaker 
of  flesh  and  blood  we  become  partakers  of  Christ.  In  partaking 
with  us  of  flesh  and  blood,  Christ  entered  into  perfect  fellow- 
ship with  us  in  all  we  were,  our  life  and  our  death  became  His. 
When  we  become  partakers  of  Christ,  we  enter  into  perfect 
fellowship  with  Him  in  all  He  was  and  is  ;  His  death  and  His 
life  become  ours. 

We  are  become  partakers  of  Christ!  What  a  mystery! 
What  a  treasure !  What  a  blessedness  I  The  whole  object  of 
the  Epistle  is  to  show  what  there  is  in  the  Christ  of  whom  we 
are  become  partakers,  and  what  He  can  do  for  us.     But  here  at 


136  Zbc  KxMicst  of  ail 


the  outset,  amid  needful  words  of  remonstrance  against  giving 
way  to  sloth  or  unbelief,  belie\crs  arc  reminded  of  what  their 
portion  and  possession  is  ;  they  are  become  partakers  of  Christ. 
There  is  often  danger,  as  we  listen  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture 
about  Christ  as  our  High  Priest,  of  regarding  Him  as  an  outward 
person,  and  His  work  as  something  that  is  done  outwardly  for 
us  in  heaven.  This  precious  word  reminds  us  that  our  salvation 
consists  in  the  possession  of  Himself,  in  the  being  one  life  with 
Him,  in  having  Himself  as  our  own.  Christ  can  do  nothing 
for  us  but  as  an  inward  Saviour.  Himself  being  our  life,  per- 
sonally dwelling  and  working  in  us.  As  truly  and  fully  as 
Christ,  when  He  became  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood,  was  entirely 
and  eternally  identified  with  man  and  His  nature,  so  that  He  and 
it  were  insejjarably  united  in  one  life.,  .so  surely,  when  we  become 
partakers  of  Christ,  do  we  become  indissolubly  identified  with 
Him.  Since  Christ  became  j^artaker  of  flesh  and  blood,  He  is 
known,  and  will  be  to  all  eternity,  even  upon  the  throne,  as  the 
Son  of  Man.  No  less  will  we,  when  we  truly  become  partakers 
of  Christ,  be  known,  even  now  and  to  all  eternity,  as  one  with 
Christ  on  the  throne  of  glory.  Oh,  lei  us  know  ourseKcs  as 
God  knows  us — partakers  of  Christ. 

It  is  the  one  thing  God  desires.  When  God  .set  forth  His 
only  begotten  Son  as  the  only  possible  way  of  access  to  Himself, 
it  meant  that  He  can  delight  in  or  have  fellowship  with  nothing 
in  which  the  likeness  of  His  Son  is  not  to  be  seen.  We  can  have 
no  farther  entrance  into  God's  favour  or  good  pleasure  than  He 
can  see  Christ  in  us.  If  God  has  called  us  to  the  fellowship  of 
His  Son,  and  made  us  participators  of  all  there  is  in  Christ,  the 
sonship,  and  the  love,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  1 'Either,  let  us  live 
worth}'  of  our  privilege — let  us  li\e  as  men  who  are — oh  the 
riches  of  the  grace  ! — are  become  partakers  of  Christ  I 


Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail  13/ 


And  how  can  we  know  in  full  assurance  that  it  is  so,  and 
ever  rejoice  in  the  blessed  consciousness  of  all  it  implies.  Just 
as  it  was  said  before,  where  our  blessed  relation  to  Christ  was  set 
forth  in  another  aspect,  we  are  His  house,  if  we  hold  fast  our 
boldness  and  the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm  unto  the  end,  so  we 
have  the  answer  here  again  :  "  We  are  become  partakers  of  Christ, 
if  we  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  firm  unto  the 
end."  The  beginning  of  our  confidence  must  be  held  fast.  We 
must  not,  as  many  think,  begin  with  faith,  and  continue  with 
works.  No,  the  confidence  with  which  we  began  must  be  held 
fast  firm  to  the  end.  We  must  see  that  when  we  are  made 
partakers  of  Christ,  that  includes  all,  and  that  as  at  first,  so  all 
the  way  unto  the  end,  we  can  receiv'e  out  of  Christ  only  by  faith 
and  according  to  our  faith.  Apart  from  faith  receiving  Christ's 
strength,  our  works  avail  not.  God  works  nothing  but  through 
Christ,  and  it  is  as  by  faith  we  live  in  our  riches  in  Christ  that 
God  can  work  into  us  all  there  is  in  Him  for  us.  It  is  this  faith 
through  which  God  can  work  all  our  works  for  us  and  in  us. 

For  we  are  become — note,  not  we  shall  become — we  are 
become,  partakers  of  Christ,  if  we  hold  fast  to  the  end.  Our 
perseverance  will  be  the  seal  of  our  being  partaker  of  Christ. 
The  faith  by  which,  at  conversion,  we  know  at  once  that  we  haxe 
Christ,  grows  clearer  and  brighter,  and  more  mightily  effectual 
in  opening  up  the  treasures  of  Christ,  as  we  hold  it  fa.st  firm  unto 
the  end.  Persevering  faith  is  the  witness  that  we  have  Christ, 
because  through  it  Christ  exercises  His  keeping  and  perfecting 
power. 

Believer!  would  you  enjoy  the  full  assurance  and  the  full 
experience  that  5'ou  are  partaker  of  Christ  ?  //  /s  alone  to  be  found 
each  day  in  the  living  fellozvship  with  Christ.  Christ  is  a  living 
person,  He  can  be  known  and  enjoyed  only  in  a  living  personal 


138  Zbe  ttoUeet  of  ail 


intercourse.  Christ  is  m\'  Leader  ;  I  must  cling  to  Him,  I  must 
follow  Him,  in  His  leading.  Christ  is  my  High  Priest ;  I  must 
let  Him  lift  me  into  God's  presence.  Christ  is  the  living  Son 
of  God,  our  life  ;  I  must  live  Him.  I  am  His  house  ;  I  can 
only  know  Him  as  Son  in  His  house  as  I  yield  myself  to  His 
indwelling. 

But,  all  and  only  through  faith,  we  are  become  partakers  of 
Christ,  if  we  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  firm 
unto  the  end.  Begin  each  day,  meet  each  difficulty,  with  the 
renewal  of  the  confidence  you  reposed  in  Jesus,  when  first  you 
came  to  Him  ;  with  a  brightness  that  shines  unto  the  perfect  da)- 
you  will  know  what  boundless  blessing  it  is  to  be  a  partaker 
of  Christ. 

1.  When  Christ  became  partaker  of  human  nature,  how  entirely  He  identified  Himself  with  it, 
that  all  could  see  and  know  it.  I  am  become  partaker  of  Christ :  let  me  be  so  identified  with  Him 
that  my  whole  life  may  be  marked  by  it.  So  may  all  see  and  know  that  I  am  partaker  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

2.  How  did  Christ  become  partaker  of  our  nature  ?  He  left  His  own  state  of  life,  forsook  all, 
and  entered  into  our  state  of  life.  How  do  I  become  partaker  of  Christ  ?  By  coming  out  from  my 
state  of  life,  forsaking  all,  giving  myself  wholly  to  be  possessed  of  Him  and  to  live  His  life. 

3.  If  we  hold  fast  the  beginning.  Christ  maintained  His  surrender  to  be  Man  firm  to  the 
end,  even  unto  death.  Let  me  maintain  my  surrender  to  Christ,  live  one  life  with  Christ,  at  any 
cost. 

4.  Partaker  of  Christ,  of  His  life,  His  dispositions  as  man.  His  meekness  and  lowliness 
of  heart ;  partaker  of  a  living  Christ-  who  will  live  His  life  out  in  me. 


Cbe  Iboliegt  of  Bll  i39 


XXVIII. 

THE  REST   IN  CANAAN. 

III.— 16.  For  who,  when  they  heard,  did  provoke?  nay,  did  not  all  they 
that  came  out  of  Egypt  by  Moses  ? 

IV.  And  with  whom  was  he  displeased  forty  years  ?  was  it  not  with  them 
that  sinned,  whose  carcases  fell  in  the  wilderness? 

18.  And  to  whom  sware  he  that  they  should  not  enter  into  his  rest,  but 
to  them  that  were  disobedient? 

19.  And  we  see  that  they  were  not  able  to  enter  in  because  of  unbelief. 

In  the  opening  verse.s  of  the  Epistle  we  saw  that  God  has  two 
dispensations,  or  ways  of  deaHng  with  man,  and  that  these  find 
their  counterpart  in  the  Christian  Hfe.  There  are  beHevers  who 
always  walk  in  the  twilight  and  bondage  of  the  Old  Testament ; 
there  are  others,  who  truly  know  the  joy  and  the  power  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  have  fellowship  with  God,  not  as  through 
the  prophets,  but  truly  and  directly  in  the  Son  Himself. 

In  the  words  we  are  now  to  meditate  on  we  have  the  same 
truth  in  another  aspect.  The  writer  had  spoken  of  Christ  as 
more  than  Moses.  This  gives  him  occasion  to  speak,  in  the 
tone  of  solemn  warning,  of  the  people  of  Israel  who  came  out  of 
Egypt.  They  did  not  all  enter  Canaan.  There  came  a  separa- 
tion among  those  that  God  had  redeemed  out  of  Egypt  ;  some 
perished  in  the  wilderness  ;  others  did  indeed  enter  and  possess 
the  promised  land.  The  cause  of  this  failure  to  enter  Canaan 
was,  we  are  told,  disobedience,  arising  out  of  unbelief     When 


140  Zb€  IboUedt  of  »U 


God  commanded  them  to  go  up  and  possess  the  land,  they 
gave  \va}'  to  fear.  They  believed  not  God's  promise,  and  were 
disobedient.  Unbelief  is  ever  the  cause  of  disobedience ;  they 
could  not  enter  in  because  of  unbelief  and  disobedience. 

The  story  has  a  deep  spiritual  significance,  and  teaches  a 
lesson  of  great  solemnity.  In  our  chapter  we  have  twice  heard 
already  that  it  is  not  enough  to  begin  well  ;  we  must  hold  fast 
/////<?  t/ie  end.  Of  the  people  of  Israel  we  read — "  By  faith  they 
kept  the  Passover  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  ;  by  faith 
they  passed  through  the  lied  Sea."  There  was  the  initial  faith 
to  go  up  out  of  Egypt.  13 ut  when  they  were  tested  to  see  if 
they  would  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  their  confidence  firm 
unto  the  end,  the  great  majority  failed.  Their  faith  was  but 
for  a  time  :  they  had  faith  to  lca\c  Egypt  ;  they  had  not  faith 
to  enter  Canaan. 

Among  the  Hebrews  there  were  Christians  who  were  in 
the  same  state.  They  had  begun  well,  but  had  been  hindered. 
Some  were  standing  still  ;  some  had  already  turned  back.  And 
even  so  there  arc  matiy  Christians  in  our  churches  who  never 
come  farther  than  the  initial  faith  of  conversion.  They  say  they 
know  God  has  saved  them  from  Egypt.  They  rest  content  with 
the  thought  of  having  been  converted.  There  is  no  hearty 
desire,  no  earnest  purpose  to  press  on  to  a  life  of  holiness,  no 
readiness  at  any  sacrifice  to  go  up  into  the  promised  land  of  rest 
and  of  victory. 

When  Israel  was  about  to  enter  the  land  of  Canaan,  Moses 
used  the  words  :  "  He  brongJit  us  out  from  thence,  that  Me  iiiight 
bring  us  in  to  gi\e  us  the  land."  It  is  to  be  feared  that  there 
are  manx-  Christians  who  ]nU  asunder  what  God  hath  joined 
together.  They  would  fain  be  brought  out  from  the  land  of 
bondage  ;  they  are  not  ready  to  go  all  the  length  with  God,  to 


^bc  Iboliest  of  Bll  ui 


enter  the  land  and  conquer  every  enemy.  They  would  fain  be 
made  happy  in  being  delivered  from  bondage  ;  they  long  not  to 
be  made  holy  in  a  life  of  separation  and  service.  To  the  voice 
that  calls  to  enter  into  God's  rest  they  hearken  not,  but  harden 
their  hearts.  It  was  not  in  Egypt — let  us  note  this  well — it  was 
on  the  very  borders  of  Canaan  that  the  men  God  had  begun  to 
save  hardened  their  hearts.  It  is  among  Christians  who  profess 
conversion,  who  have  not  only  begun  the  Christian  life,  but 
even  made  some  progress  in  it,  that  the  hardening  of  the 
heart  is  now  still  found.  The  call  to  holiness,  the  call  to 
cease  from  the  life  of  wandering  and  murmuring,  and  enter 
into  the  rest  of  God,  the  call  to  the  life  of  victory  over  every 
enemy  and  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  land  of  promise,  is  not 
obeyed.  They  say  it  is  too  high  and  too  hard.  They  do  not 
believe  with  Caleb,  "  We  are  well  able  to  possess  the  land  "  ; 
they  fear  the  sacrifice  and  cling  to  the  carnal  life ;  in  not 
hearkening  to  God's  voice  their  heart  is  hardened.  God  has 
sworn,  they  shall  not  enter  into  His  rest. 

I  cannot  with  too  much  earnestness  urge  every  Christian 
reader  to  learn  well  the  two  stages  of  the  Christian.  There  are 
the  carnal,  and  there  are  the  spiritual ;  there  are  those  who 
remain  babes,  and  those  who  are  full-grown  men.  There  are 
those  who  come  up  out  of  Egypt,  but  then  remain  in  the 
wilderness  of  a  worldly  life  ;  there  are  those  who  follow  the 
Lord  fully,  and  enter  the  life  of  rest  and  victory.  Let  each  of 
us  find  out  where  we  stand,  and  taking  earnest  heed  to  God's 
warnings,  with  our  whole  heart  press  on  to  go  all  the  length  in 
following  Jesus,  in  seeking  to  stand  perfect  and  complete  in  all 
the  will  of  God. 

What  mean  all  the  warnings  in  our  Epistle,  specially  dedicated 
to  the  unfolding  of  the  heavenly  life  and  power,  the  complete 


142  {Ebe  t>oUedt  of  BIl 


salvation  of  our  groal  High  Priest?  It  means  this,  that  no 
teaching  of  what  Christ  is  can  profit,  unless  our  hearts  arc 
longing  and  ready  to  folloio  Hivi  fully.  The  Epistle  will  sum 
up  all  its  teachings  in  its  call  to  enter  into  the  Holiest  of  All. 
into  the  rest  of  God.  But  it  wants  us  to  feel  deeply  that  there 
can  be  no  entering  in,  except  in  the  path  of  faith  and  full 
obedience,  except  with  a  heart  that  is  ready  to  forsake  all  its 
own  will,  to  follow  Him  who  bore  the  cross,  a  heart  that 
will  be  content  with  nothing  less  than  all  that  God  is  willing 
to  give. 

7.  r/iey  were  not  able  to  enter  in  because  of  unbelief.  Take  heed,  lest  there  be  in  any  of 
you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief.  Everything  depends  upon  faith.  At  each  step  in  the  teaching 
of  our  Epistle,  let  faith  be  exercised.  Faith  in  the  God  who  speatis  to  us  :  faith  in  the  blessed 
Son,  in  the  divine  power  and  all-pervading  nearness  in  which  He  worlis,  in  His  true  humanity, 
and  the  heavenly  life  He  perfected  for  us  and  imparts  from  heaven  ;  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
who  dwells  within  us,  and  is  God's  power  worlting  in  us  ;—let  faith  be  the  habit  of  our  soul, 
the  every  breath  of  our  life. 

2.  Because  of  unbelief.  Just  what  Jesus  says :  Because  of  your  unbelief,  in  answer  to 
our  Why  ?  Let  us  cultivate  the  deep  conviction  that  the  root  of  all  disobedience  and  failure, 
of  all  wealinpss  and  trouble  in  the  spiritual  life,  is  unbelief.  Let  us  not  thinh  that  there  is 
some  inexplicable  mystery  about  our  prayers  not  being  heard ;  it  is  simply  unbelief  that  wil 
not  trust  God,  will  not  yield  itself  wholly  to  God.  will  not  allow  God  to  do  what  He  promises. 
God  save  us  from  unbelief  I 


Zbc  fboUest  of  ail  143 


XXIX. 

THE  REST  OF  FAITH. 

IV.— 4.  Let  us  fear  therefore,  lest  haply,  a  promise  being  left  us  of  entering 
into  his  rest,  any  of  you  should  seem  to  have  come  short  of  it. 

2.  For  indeed  we  have  had  good  tidings  preached  unto  us.  even  as  also 
they:  but  the  word  of  hearing  did  not  profrt  them,  because  they  were^  not  united 
by  faith  with  them  that  heard. 

3.  For  we  which  have  believed  do  enter  into  that  rest ;  even  as  he  hath 
said, 

As  I  sware  in  my  wrath, 
They  shall  not  enter  into  my  rest: 
although  the  works  were  finished  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

We  have  seen  that  with  I.srael,  after  it.s  deHverance  from  Egypt, 
there  were  two  .stages.  The  one,  the  Hfe  in  the  wilderness,  with  its 
wanderings  and  its  wants,  its  unbelief  and  its  murmurings,  its  pro- 
vocation of  God  and  its  exclusion  from  the  promised  rest.  The 
other,  the  land  of  promise,  with  rest  instead  of  the  desert  wander- 
ings, with  abundance  in.stead  of  want,  and  the  victory  over  every 
enemyinstead  of  defeat:  symbols  ofthe  two  stages  in  the  Christian 
life.  The  one  in  which  we  only  know  the  Lord  as  the  Saviour 
from  Egypt,  in  His  work  on  the  cross  for  atonement  and  pardon. 
The  other,  where  He  is  known  and  welcomed  as  the  glorified 
Priest-King  in  heaven,  who,  in  the  power  of  the  endless  life, 
sanctifies  and  saves  completely,  writes  God's  laws  in  the  heart, 
and  leads  us  to  find  our  home  in  the  holiest  of  God's  pre- 
sence.    The  aim  of  the  writer  in  this  whole  section  is  to  warn 

^  It  was. 


144  zbe  ftoUegt  of  ail 


us  not  to  rest  content  with  tlic  former,  the  preparatory  stage, 
but  to  show  all  dih'gence  to  reach  the  second,  and  enter  the 
promised  rest  of  coinplete  deh'verance.  Let  US  fear  therefore, 
lest  haply,  a  promise  being  left  of  entering  into  His  rest, 
any  of  you  should  come  short  of  it. 

Some  think  that  the  rest  of  Canaan  is  the  type  of  hea\en. 
This  cannot  be,  because  the  great  mark  of  the  Canaan  life  was 
that  the  land  had  to  be  conquered  and  that  God  gave  such 
glorious  victory  over  enemies.  The  rest  of  Canaan  was  for 
victory  and  through  victory.  And  so  it  is  in  the  life  of  faith, 
when  a  soul  learns  to  trust  God  for  \ictory  o\er  sin,  and  yields 
itself  entirely,  as  to  its  circumstances  and  duties,  to  live  just 
where  and  how  He  wills,  that  it  enters  the  rest.  It  lives  in  the 
promise,  in  the  will,  in  the  power  of  God.  This  is  the'  rest  into 
which  it  enters,  not  through  death,  but  through  faith,  or  rather, 
not  through  the  death  of  the  body,  but  the  death  to  self  in  the 
death  of  Christ  through  faith.  For  indeed  we  ha\e  had  good 
tidings  preached  unto  us,  even  as  also  they :  but  the  word  of 
hearing  did  not  profit  them,  because  it  was  not  united  by  faith 
with  those  that  heard.  The  one  reason  why  the\-  did  not  enter 
Canaan  was  their  unbelief.  The  land  was  waiting :  the  rest 
was  provided  ;  God  Himself  would  bring  them  in  and  give  them 
rest.  One  thing  was  lacking;  they  did  not  believe,  and  so  did 
not  yield  themselves  to  God  to  do  it  for  them  what  He  had  pro- 
mised. Unbelief  closes  the  heart  against  God,  withdraws  the 
life  from  God's  power  ;  in  the  very  nature  of  things  unbelief 
renders  the  word  of  promise  of  none  eftect.  A  gospel  of  rest  is 
preached  to  us  as  it  was  to  them.  We  have  in  Scripture  the 
mcst  precious  assurances  of  a  rest  for  the  soul  to  be  found  under 
the  yoke  of  Jesus,  of  a  peace  of  God  which  passcth  all  under- 
standing, of  a  peace  and   a  joy  in   the  soul  which   nothing  can 


^be  1bo\iC3t  of  Bll  U5 


take  away.  But  when  they  are  not  believed  they  cannot  be 
enjoyed :  faith  is  in  its  very  nature  a  resting  in  the  promise  and 
the  promiser  until  He  fulfil  it  in  us.  Only  faith  can  enter  into 
rest.     The  fulness  of  faith  enters  into  the  full  rest. 

For  we  which  have  believed  do  enter  into  rest.  It  is  not, 
shall  enter.  No.  To-day,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith, 
"  To-day,"  now  and  here,  we  which  have  believed  do  enter  into 
rest.  It  is  with  the  rest  of  faith  here  as  with  what  we  heard 
of  being  partakers  of  Christ — the  blessing  is  enjoyed,  if  we 
hold  fast  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  firm  unto  the  end. 
The  initial  faith,  that  passes  out  of  Egypt  through  the  Red 
Sea,  must  be  held  fast  firm,  then  it  comes  to  the  fulness  of  faith 
that  passes  through  Jordan  into  the  land. 

Let  every  student  of  this  Epistle  realise  how  intensely  per- 
sonal its  tone  is,  and  with  what  urgency  it  appeals  to  us  for 
faith,  as  the  one  thing  needful  in  our  dealings  with  the  word  of 
God.  Without  this  the  word  cannot  profit  us.  We  may  seek 
by  thought  and  study  to  enter  into  the  meaning  of  the  promise 
— God  has  sworn  that  we  never  shall  enter  into  its  possession,  or 
into  His  rest,  but  by  faith.  The  one  thing  God  asks  in  our 
intercourse  with  Him  and  His  word  is  the  habit  of  faith,  that 
ever  keeps  the  heart  open  towards  God,  and  longs  to  enter  in 
and  abide  in  His  rest.  It  is  the  soul  that  thirsts  for  God,  for 
the  living  God,  that  will  have  the  spiritual  capacity  for  receiving 
the  revelation  of  how  Jesus,  the  High  Priest,  brings  us  into  God's 
presence.  What  is  to  be  taught  us  later  on  of  our  entering  into 
the  Holiest  of  All  is  nothing  but  the  clearer  unfolding  of  what  is 
here  called  entering  into  rest.  Let  us  in  studying  the  Epistle 
above  everything  have  faith. 

Would  you  enter  into  the  rest  ?     Remember  what  has  been 

taught  us  of  the  two  stages.     They  are  represented  by  Moses 
10 


146  ^be  Iboliest  of  Hll 


and  Joshua.  Moses  the  leader,  Joshua  the  perfecter  or  finisher 
of  the  faith  of  Israel.  Moses  brought  the  people  out :  Joshua 
brought  them  in.  Accept  Jesus  as  your  Joshua.  Let  past 
failure  and  wandering  and  sin  not  cause  either  despair  or  con- 
tentment with  what  you  are.  Trust  Jesus  who,  through  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood,  brought  you  out  of  Egypt,  to  bring  you 
as  definitely  into  the  rest.  Faith  is  always  repose  in  what 
another  will  do  for  me.  Faith  ceases  to  seek  help  in  itself  or 
its  efforts,  to  be  troubled  with  its  need  or  its  weakness  ;  it 
rests  in  the  sufficiency  of  the  all-sufficient  One  who  has  undertaken 
all.  Trust  Jesus.  Give  up  and  forsake  the  wilderness.  Follow 
Him  fully  :  He  is  the  rest. 

1.  Let  no  one  imagine  that  this  life  in  the  rest  of  faith  is  something  that  is  meant  only 
for  a  favoured  few.  I  cannot  too  earnestly  press  it  upon  every  reader:  God  calls  you— yes 
you,  to  enter  the  rest.  He  calls  you  to  a  life  of  entire  consecration.  If  you  rest  content 
with  the  thought  of  having  been  converted,  it  may  be  at  the  peril  of  your  soul :  with  Israel  you 
may  perish  in  the  wilderness.  "I  have  sworn  in  my  wrath:  they  shall  not  enter  into  my 
rest." 

2.  If  God  be  indeed  the  fountain  of  all  goodness  and  blessedness,  it  follows  that  the  nearer 
we  are  to  Him,  and  the  more  we  have  of  Him,  the  deeper  and  the  fuller  our  Joy  will  be.  Has  not 
the  soul,  who  is  not  willing  at  all  costs  to  yield  to  Christ  when  He  offers  to  bring  us  into  the 
rest  of  God,  reason  to  fear  that  all  its  religion  is  simply  the  selfishness  that  seeks  escape 
from  punishment,  and  is  content  with  as  little  of  God  here  as  may  suffice  to  secure  heaven 
hereafter. 


Z\K  IboHest  ot  BU  147 


XXX. 

THE  REST   OF  GOD. 

IV.— 4.  For  he  hath  said  somewhere  of  the  seventh  day  on  this  wise,  And 
God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  works ; 

5.  And  in  this  place  again, 

They  shall  not  enter  into  my  rest. 

6.  Seeing  therefore  it  remaineth  that  some  should  enter  thereinto,  and 
they  to  whom  the  good  tidings  were  before  preached  failed  to  enter  in  be- 
cause of  disobedience, 

7.  He  again  defineth  a  certain  day,  saying  in  David,  after  so  long  a  time 
To-day,  as  it  hath  been  before  said. 

To-day  if  ye  shall  hear  his  voice, 
Harden  not  your  hearts. 

8.  For  if  Joshua  had  given  them  rest,  he  would  not  have  spoken  afterward 
of  another  day. 

We  speak,  with  Scripture,  of  the  rest  of  faith.  Faith,  however, 
only  gives  rest  because  it  rests  in  God ;  it  rests  because  it 
allows  God  to  do  all ;  the  rest  is  in  God  Himself.  It  is  His 
own  divine  rest  into  which  we  enter  by  faith.  When  the 
Holy  Ghost  says,  Jkfy  rest.  His  rest,  God  rested,  it  teaches 
us  that  it  is  God's  own  rest  into  which  we  enter,  and  which 
we  partake  of.  It  is  as  faith  sees  that  the  creature  was 
destined  to  find  its  rest  nowhere  but  in  the  Creator,  and  that 
in  the  entire  surrender  to  Him,  to  His  will  and  His  working,  it 
may  have  perfect  rest,  that  it  dares  to  cast  itself  upon  God, 
and  have  no  care.  It  sees  that  God,  the  cause  of  all  move- 
ment and  change,  is  Himself  the  immovable  and  unchangeable 


148  irbc  -fcoucflt  or  Bii 


One,  and  that  His  blessed  rest  can  never  be  disturbed  by  what  is 
done  either  by  Himself  or  by  others.  Hearkening  to  the  loving 
offer,  it  forsakes  all  to  find  its  dwelling-place  in  God  and  His 
love.  Faith  sees  what  the  rest  of  God  is  ;  faith  believes  that 
it  may  come  and  share  in  it ;  faith  enters  in  and  rests,  it  yields 
itself  to  Jesus  to  lead  it  in  and  make  it  partaker.  Because  it 
honours  God  and  counts  Him  all,  God  honours  it;  He  opens  the 
door,  and  the  soul  is  brought  in  to  rest  in  Him. 

This  faith  is  faith  in  Jesus.  It  is  the  insight  into  His 
finished  work,  the  complete  salvation  He  bestows,  the  perfect- 
tion  which  was  wrought  in  Him  personally,  and  in  which  we 
share  as  partakers  of  Christ.  The  connection  between  the 
finishing  of  a  work  and  the  rest  that  follows  is  clearly  seen  in 
what  is  said  of  creation.  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from 
all  His  works.  He  that  is  entered  into  His  rest,  hath  himself 
also  rested  from  his  work,  as  God  did  from  His.  The  rest  of 
God  was  His  glad  complacency  in  what  He  had  finished  in 
Creation,  the  beginning  of  His  blessed  work  of  Providence  to 
care  for  and  bring  on  to  perfection  what  He  had  wrought.  And 
so  it  is  the  finished  work  of  Jesus  that  is  ever  set  before  us  in 
the  Epistle  as  the  ground  of  our  faith,  the  call  for  us  in  fulness 
of  faith  to  draw  nigh  and  enter  in  and  rest.  Because  Christ 
hath  put  away  sin,  hath  rent  the  veil,  and  is  set  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne, — because  all  is  finished  and  perfected, 
and  we  have  received  the  Holy  Spirit  from  heaven  in  our 
hearts  to  make  us  the  partakers  of  that  glorified  Christ, 
we  may  with  confidence,  with  boldness,  rest  in  Him  to  main- 
tain and  perfect  His  work  in  us.  And,  resting  in  Him,  He 
becomes  our  Joshua,  perfecting  our  faith,  bringing  us  in,  and 
giving  us  a  home  in  the  rest  of  God  with  Himself,  now  to  go 
no  more  out  for  ever. 


Cbe  Ijoliest  of  SH  149 


And  if  you  would  know  why  so  few  Christians  enjoy  this 
rest,  it  is  because  they  do  not  knoiv  Jesus  as  their  Joshua.  We 
shall  see  later  how  Aaron  was  only  a  type  of  Christ  in  His 
work  on  earth.  Melchizedek  is  needed  as  a  type  of  His  work 
in  heaven,  in  the  power  and  joy  of  the  heavenly  life.  Moses  and 
Aaron  both  shadow  forth  the  beginning  of  Christ's  work — His 
work  on  earth  ;  Melchizedek  and  Joshua  His  work  in  heaven. 
They  show  us  clearly  how,  as  in  the  type  God  ordained,  so  in 
reality  there  are  two  stages  in  Christian  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence. All  the  feebleness  of  our  Christian  life  is  owing  to  one 
thing :  we  do  not  know  Jesus  in  heaven  ;  we  do  not  know  that 
Jesus  has  entered  in  for  us  (vi.  20,  ix.  12,  14),  and  that  this 
secures  to  us  boldness  and  the  poiver  oj  entrance  into  a  heavenly 
state  of  life ;  that  He  there  sits  upon  the  throne  as  our  High 
Priest  in  power,  maintaining  in  us  His  own  heavenly  life  ;  keep- 
ing us  in  personal  fellowship  with  the  living  Father,  so  that 
in  Him  we  too  enter  the  rest  of  God.  It  is  because  we  do 
not  know  Jesus  in  His  heavenly  life  and  power  that  our  life 
is  feeble  ;  if  we  learn  to  know  Him  as  He  is  to  be  revealed  in 
this  Epistle,  as  our  heavenly  Joshua,  actually  bringing  us  and 
our  inmost  nature  into  the  rest  of  God,  we  cannot  but  enter  into 
that  rest.  When  Joshua  went  before,  the  people  followed  at  once 
in  fellowship  with  him.  Entering  the  rest  of  God  is  a  personal 
practical  experience  of  the  soul  that  receives  the  word  in  living 
faith,  because  in  it  it  receives  Jesus  on  the  throne. 

Let  us  do  what  Israel  did  in  crossing  Jordan  ;  they  allowed 
Joshua  to  bring  them  in  ;  they  followed  him.  Let  us  follow 
Jesus  in  the  path  He  trod.  In  heaven  God's  will  is  all.  On 
earth  Jesus  made  that  will  all.  He  lived  in  the  will  of  God,  in 
suffering  and  doing,  in  meeting  trial,  in  waiting  for  the  Father's 
guidance  ;  in  giving  up  everything  to  it.  He  proved  that  God's 


ir.o  ube  Ibollest  of  ail 


will  was  His  path.  Follow  Him.  Yield  thyself,  in  the  death  to 
self,  to  the  will  of  God  ;  have  faith  in  Jesus  on  the  throne,  as  thy 
Head  and  life,  that  He  has  brought  thee  in  and  will  make  it  true 
in  thy  experience  ;  trust  Jesus,  as  being  partaker  of  His  nature 
and  life,  to  work  all  in  thee  that  the  P'ather  seeks ;  and  thou 
shalt  know  how  blessed  it  is  to  enter  the  rest  of  God. 

7.  Deep  restfulness,  even  amid  outward  activity,  is  one  of  the  nwst  beautiful  marl<s  and  aids 
of  the  life  of  faith.  Cultivate  that  holy  stillness  that  seeks  to  abide  in  God's  presence,  and  does 
not  yield  too  much  to  things  around. 

2.  This  rest  is  God's  rest :  it  is  found  in  His  fellowship.  Thinl<  of  all  He  sees,  of  all  He  feels, 
and  has  to  bear;  think  of  the  divine  peace  and  patience  with  which  He  guides  all ;  and  learn  to 
be  patient  and  trustful,  and  to  rest  in  Him.  Believe  in  Him,  as  the  one  Qod  who  worketh  all  in  all, 
and  works  in  thee  that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  His  sight,  and  thou  shalt  have  perfect  rest  in 
letting  Him  do  all  for  thee  and  in  thee. 

3.  God  is  a  supernatural,  incomprehensible  Being  ;  we  must  learn  to  know  Him  in  a  way  that 
Is  above  reason  and  sense.  That  way  is  the  adoration  of  faith,  and  the  deep  humility  of  obedi- 
ence.    Through  these  the  Holy  Spirit  will  work  the  work  of  Qod  in  us. 

4.  All  entering  in  means  a  coming  out  from  the  place  we  were  in  before.  Forsake  all,  and 
follow  Jesus  into  God's  presence. 

5.  0  my  soul,  listen  to  this  word  of  the  great  God,  and  let  His  unspeakable  love  draw  thee— 
To-day,  enter  into  My  rest. 


^be  IboUest  of  Bll  151 


XXXI. 

EEST   FROM   WORKS. 

IV.— 9.  There  remainetli  therefore  a  sabbath  rest  for  the  people  of  God. 
10.  For  he  that  is  entered  into  his  rest  hath  himself  also  rested  from  his 
works,  as  God  did  from  his. 

There  remaineth  therefore  a  sabbath  rest  for  the  people  of 

God :  taken  in  connection  with  what  precedes  about  the  seventh 
day  or  Sabbath,  the  rest  is  here  called  a  sabbatism  or  sab- 
bath rest.  It  is  spoken  of  as  remaining,  with  reference  to 
the  rest  in  Canaan.  That  was  but  a  shadow  and  symbol  : 
the  real  sabbath  rest  remained,  waiting  its  time,  till  Christ 
the  true  Joshua  should  come,  and  open  it  to  us  by  Himself 
entering  it. 

In  ver.  10  we  have  here  another  proof  that  the  rest  does  not 
refer  to  heaven.  How  needless  it  would  be  in  that  case  to  say 
of  those  who  have  died,  For  he  that  hath  entered  into  his  rest, 
hath  himself  also  rested  from  his  works,  as  God  did  from  His. 
The  remark  would  have  no  point.  But  what  force  it  has  in 
connection  with  the  rest  of  faith  in  this  life,  pointing  us  to  what 
is  the  great  secret  of  this  entrance  into  rest — the  ceasing  from 
works,  as  God  did  from  His. 

In  God  we  see,  as  it  were,  two  distinct  stages  in  His  relation 


152  ttbe  fjoUegt  of  HU 


to  His  work.  The  first  was  that  of  creation — until  He  had 
finished  all  His  work  which  He  created  and  made.  The 
second,  His  rest  when  creation  was  finished,  and  He  rejoiced 
in  what  He  had  made,  now  to  begin  the  higher  work  of  watch- 
ing the  development  of  the  life  He  had  intrusted  the  creature 
with,  and  securing  its  sanctification  and  perfection.  It  is  a  rest 
from  work  which  is  now  finished,  for  higher  work  now  to  be 
carried  on.  Even  so  there  are  the  two  stages  in  the  Christian 
life.  The  one  in  which,  after  conversion,  a  believer  seeks  to  work 
what  God  would  have  him  do.  The  second,  in  which,  after 
many  a  painful  failure,  he  ceases  from  his  works,  and  enters  the 
rest  of  God,  there  to  find  the  power  for  work  in  allowing  God  to 
work  in  him. 

It  is  this  resting  from  their  own  work  which  many  Christians 
cannot  understand.  They  think  of  it  as  a  state  of  passive  and 
selfish  enjoyment,  of  still  contemplation  which  leads  to  the 
neglect  of  the  duties  of  life,  and  unfits  for  that  watchfulness  and 
warfare  to  which  Scripture  calls.  What  an  entire  misunder- 
standing of  God's  call  to  rest.  As  the  Almighty,  God  is  the  only 
source  of  power.  In  nature  He  works  all.  In  grace  He  waits 
to  work  all  too,  if  man  will  but  consent  and  allow.  Truly  to 
rest  in  God  is  to  yield  oneself  up  to  the  highest  activity.  We 
work,  because  He  worketh  in  us  to  will  and  to  do.  As  Paul 
says  of  himself,  "  I  labour,  striving  according  to  His  working 
who  worketh  in  me  with  might "  (Jit.  "  agonising  according  to 
His  energy  who  energises  in  me  with  might  ").  Entering  the  rest 
of  God  is  the  ceasing  from  self-effort,  and  the  yielding  up  one- 
self in  the  full  surrender  of  faith  to  God's  working. 

How  many  Christians  arc  there  who  need  nothing  so  much 
as  rightly  to  apprehend  this  word.  Their  life  is  one  of  earnest 
effort  and  ceaseless  struggling.     They  do  long  to  do  God's  will, 


ZbC  1b0liC6t  of  ail  153 


and  to  live  to  His  glory.  Continued  failure  and  bitter  disap- 
pointment is  their  too  frequent  experience.  Very  often  as  the 
result  they  give  themselves  up  to  a  feeling  of  hopelessness  :  it 
never  will  be  otherwise.  Theirs  is  truly  the  wilderness  life — 
they  have  not  entered  into  God's  rest.  Would  that  God  might 
open  their  eyes,  and  show  them  Jesus  as  our  Joshua,  who  has 
entered  into  God's  presence,  who  sits  upon  the  throne  as  High 
Priest,  bringing  us  in  living  union  with  Himself  into  that  place 
of  rest  and  of  love,  and,  by  His  Spirit  within  us,  making  that  life 
of  heaven  a  reality  and  an  experience. 

He  that  is  entered  into  rest,  hath  himself  also  rested  from 
his  works,  as  God  did  from  His.  And  how  does  one  rest  and 
cease  from  his  works  ?  It  is  by  ceasing  from  self  It  is  the  old 
self  life  that  always  insists  upon  proving  its  goodness  and  its 
strength,  and  presses  forward  to  do  the  works  of  God.  It  is 
only  in  death  that  we  rest  from  our  works.  Jesus  entered  His 
rest  through  death;  each  one  whom  He  leads  into  it  must 
pass  through  death.  "  Reckon  yourself  to  be  indeed  dead  unto 
sin,  and  alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  Believe  that 
the  death  of  Christ,  as  an  accomplished  fact,  with  all  that  it 
means  and  has  effected,  is  working  in  you  in  all  its  power.  You 
are  dead  with  Him  and  in  Him.  Consent  to  this,  and  cease 
from  dead  works.  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord. 
Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  for  they  do  rest  from  their  labours."  That 
is  as  true  of  spiritual  dying  with  Christ  as  of  the  death  in  the 
body.  To  sinful  nature  there  is  no  rest  from  work  but  through 
death. 

He  that  is  entered  into  rest  hath  rested  from  his  works. 
The  ceasing  from  our  works  and  the  entering  the  rest  of  God  go 
together.  Read  the  first  chapter  of  Joshua,  and  hear  God's 
words  of  strength  and  encouragement  to  everyone  who  would 


154  zbe  IboUest  of  ail 


enter.  Exchange  the  wilderness  life  with  your  own  works  for 
the  rest-life  in  which  God  works.  Fear  not  to  believe  that 
Jesus  came  to  give  it,  and  that  it  is  for  you. 

t  Not  I,  but  Christ.  This  is  the  rest  of  faith  in  which  a  man  rests  from  his  works.  With 
the  unconverted  man  it  is,  Not  Christ,  but  I.  With  the  feeble  and  slothful  Christian,  I  and 
Christ :  /  first,  and  Christ  to  fill  up  what  is  wanting.  With  increasing  earnestness  it  becomes, 
Christ  and  I :  Christ  first,  but  still  I  second.  With  the  man  who  dies  with  Christ  it  is,  Not  I, 
but  Christ :  Christ  alone  and  Christ  all.  He  has  ceased  from  his  worh :  Christ  liveth  in  him. 
This  is  the  rest  of  faith. 

2.  God  saith  of  His  dwelling  among  His  people,  "  This  is  My  rest ;  here  will  I  dwell."  Fear  not 
to  say  this  too.  It  is  the  rest  of  God  in  His  delight  and  pleasure  in  the  work  of  His  Son,  in  His 
loue  to  Jesus  and  all  who  belong  to  Him.  It  is  the  rest  of  Jesus  in  His  finished  work,  sitting  on  the 
throne,  resting  in  the  Father's  loue.  ft  is  the  rest  of  our  faith  and  love  in  Jesus,  in  God,  In  His 
loue. 


^be  Iboltest  of  Bll  155 


XXXII. 

GIVE   DILIGENCE    TO   ENTER  INTO    THE   REST. 

IV.— 11.  Let  us,  therefore,  give  diligence  to  enter  into  that  rest,  that  no 
man  fall  after  the  same  example  of  disobedience. 

Our  Epistle  is  intensely  practical.  How  it  detains  and  holds  us 
fast  in  hope  of  persuading  us  not  to  be  content  with  the  know- 
ledge or  the  admiration  of  its  teaching,  but  personally  to  listen 
to  the  message  it  brings  from  God  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
indeed  do  the  thing  God  would  have  us  do — enter  into  His  rest. 
Let  us  give  diligence  to  enter  into  that  rest. 

Let  us  give  diligence.  The  word  means,  Make  haste — be 
in  earnest,  put  your  whole  heart  into  it,  see  that  you  do  it ;  enter 
into  the  rest.  That  no  man  fall  after  the  same  example  of 
disobedience.  The  danger  is  imminent — the  loss  will  be  ter- 
rible. God  has  sworn  in  His  wrath  that  unless  we  hearken  and 
obey,  we  shall  not  enter  His  rest.  Let  us  give  diligence  to 
enter  in.  All  the  wonderful  teaching  the  Epistle  contains  farther 
on,  as  to  the  Holiest  that  is  opened  for  us  as  the  place  where 
God  wants  to  receive  us  into  His  rest  and  live,  as  to  the  great 
High  Priest  who  has  opened  the  way  and  entered  in  and  lives  as 
our  Joshua  to  bring  us  in,  will  profit  us  nothing,  unless  there  be 
the  earnest  desire,  the  willing   readiness,  the  firm   resolve,  to 


166  trbe  IboUcet  of  BU 


enter  in.  It  is  this  disposition  alone  that  can  fit  a  man  spiritually 
to  apprehend  the  heavenly  mysteries  the  Epistle  opens  up. 

And  surely  it  ought  not  to  be  needful  to  press  the  motives 
that  should  urge  us  to  obedience.  Ought  not  the  one  motive  to 
suffice? — the  unspeakable  privilege  God  offers  me  in  opening  to 
me  the  entrance  into  His  own  rest.  No  words  can  express  the 
inconceivable  greatness  of  the  gift.  God  speaks  to  me  in  His 
Son  as  one  who  was  created  in  His  image,  capable  of  fellow- 
ship with  Himself;  as  one  whom  He  has  redeemed  out  of  the 
awful  captivity  of  sin  and  death,  because  He  longs  to  have  me 
living  with  Him  in  His  love.  As  one  for  whom  He  has  made 
it  possible  to  live  the  outer  life  in  the  flesh,  with  the  inner  life  in 
Christ,  lifted  up,  kept  safe  in  the  Holiest  of  All,  in  God's  own 
rest,  —  oh,  can  it  be  that  anyone  believes  this  and  does  not 
respond?  No,  let  each  heart  say.  Blessed  be  God,  into  this  rest 
would  I  enter,  here  would  I  dwell. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  wilderness  life  of  stumbling  and 
sinning,  we  have  so  learnt  to  take  the  words  God  speaks  of  that 
life  (iii.  lo),  "They  do  alway  err  in  their  heart,"  as  descripti\e  of 
what  must  be  daily  Christian  experience,  that  we  hardly  count 
it  a  practical  possibility  to  enter  into  the  rest.  And  even  when 
the  desire  has  been  awakened,  the  path  appears  so  dark  and 
unknown.  Let  me  for  the  sake  of  such  once  again  gather  up 
what  has  been  said  as  to  the  way  to  enter  in  :  it  may  be  God,  of 
His  great  mercy,  may  help  some  to  take  the  step.  The  instruc- 
tions need  be  very  simple. 

First,  settle  it  in  your  mind,  believe  with  your  wliolc  heart  that 
there  is  such  a  rest,  and  that  To-day.  It  is  God's  rest,  in  which 
He  lives  ;  into  which  Jesus,  as  your  Joshua,  has  entered.  It  is 
your  rest,  prepared  for  you  ;  your  land  of  promise  ;  the  spiritual 
state  of  life  which  is  as  surely  yours  as  Jesus  is;  into  which 


Zbe  Doliest  of  2111  i57 


Jesus  will  bring  you,  and  where  He  will  keep  you.  It  is  the 
rest  in  which  you  can  live  every  hour,  free  from  care  and  anxiety, 
free  from  weariness  and  wanderings,  always  resting  in  the  rest 
that  trusts  God  for  all.     Believe  this. 

Then  cease  from  your  oivn  works.  Not  as  if  you  had  to 
attain  this  perfectly  before  entering  into  God's  rest.  No,  but 
consent,  yield,  be  willing  that  all  self-working  should  come  to  an 
end.  Cease  from  self  Where  there  is  life  there  is  action  ;  the 
self-life  will  seek  to  work,  except  you  give  up  self  into  the  death 
of  Christ ;  with  Him  you  are  buried,  in  Him  you  live.  As  Christ 
said.  Hate  your  own  life,  lose  it.  Cease  from  your  own  works, 
and  bow  in  deep  humility  and  helplessness  of  all  good,  as 
nothing  before  God. 

Trust  Jesus  as  your  Joshua,  who  brings  you  in,  even  now. 
Israel  had  simply  to  trust  and  obey  and  follow  Joshua.  Set 
your  heart  on  Him  who  has  entered  the  heavens  to  appear 
before  God  for  us.  Claim  Jesus  as  yours,  not  only  in  His  cross 
and  death  and  resurrection,  but  above  all  in  His  heavenliness,  in 
His  possession  of  the  rest  of  heaven.  Claim  Him,  and  leave  Him 
to  do  His  blessed  work.  You  need  not  understand  all.  Your 
feelings  may  not  be  what  you  would  wish.  Trust  Him,  who  has 
done  all  for  you  in  earth  and  heaven,  to  do  all  in  your  heart 
too. 

And  then  be  a  Jollozver  of  them  zvho  through  faith  and 
patience  have  inherited  the  promises.  Israel  passed  in  one  day 
through  Jordan  into  Canaan,  but  did  not  in  one  day  come  to 
the  perfect  rest.  It  is  at  the  end  of  the  life  of  Joshua  we  read, 
"  The  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about."  Enter  to-day  into  the 
rest.  Though  all  may  not  be  bright  at  once,  look  to  Jesus,  your 
Joshua,  and  leave  all  in  His  hands.  Come  away  out  of  self,  and 
live  in  Him.     Rest  in  God  whatever  happen.     Think  of  His 


158  Zbc  IboUcet  of  Bll 


Rest,  and  Jesus  who  has  entered  it  in  your  name,  and  out  of  it 
fills  you  with  its  Spirit,  and  fear  not.  To-day,  if  you  hear  His 
voice,  enter  in. 

1.  Jesus  said,  "  Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart, 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls."  It  was  through  meekness  and  lowliness  of  heart  that 
Jesus  found  His  rest  in  God :  He  allowed  God  to  be  all,  trusted  God  for  all— the  rest  of  God  was  His 
abode.  He  invites  us  to  share  His  rest,  and  tells  us  the  secret.  In  the  meekness  and  lowliness  of 
Jesus  is  the  way  to  the  rest. 

2.  Israel  did  not  enter  Canaan.  And  why?  It  is  twice  said  because  of  disobedience,  and 
thrice  because  of  unbelief.  The  two  things  always  go  together.  Yield  yourself  in  everything  to 
obey.     This  will  strengthen  you  to  trust  for  euerything  He  has  promised  to  do. 

3.  The  rest  includes  victory  :  "The  Lord  will  give  thee  rest  from  all  thy  enemies  round  about, 
and  thou  Shalt  dwell  in  safety."  "And  the  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about,  all  their  enemies 
gave  He  into  their  hand. " 


ZTbe  IboUest  of  BU  159 


XXXIII. 

THE    HEART- SEARCHING   WORD  OF   GOD. 

IV.— 12.  For  the  word  of  God  is  living,  and  active,  and  sharper  than  any- 
two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and 
spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow,  and  quick  to  discern  the  thoughts  and 
ntents  of  the  heart. 

13.  And  there  is  no  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  his  sight:  but  all 
things  are  naked  and  laid  open  before  the  eyes  of  him  with  whom  we  have 
to  do. 

They  have  been  earnest  words  with  which  the  writer  has  been 
warning  the  Hebrews  against  unbelief  and  disobedience,  harden- 
ing the  heart  and  departing  from  God,  and  coming  short  of  the 
promised  rest.  The  solemn  words  of  God's  oath  in  Ps.  xcv.,  / 
have  szvorn  in  My  wrath,  they  shall  not  enter  into  My  rest,  have 
been  repeated  more  than  once  to  urge  all  to  give  diligence  lest 
any  man  fall  after  the  same  example  of  unbelief.  He  is  about 
to  close  his  warning.  He  does  so  by  reminding  them  of  the 
power  of  the  word  of  God  as  the  word  of  the  omniscient  One, 
of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do,  before  whose  eyes  all  things, 
our  hearts  and  lives  too,  are  naked  and  open.  Let  each  student 
of  the  Epistle  make  a  very  personal  application  of  the  words. 
Let  us  take  the  oath  of  God  concerning  His  rest,  and  the 
command  to  labour  that  we  may  enter  in,  home  to  our  heart, 
and  say  whether  we  have  indeed  entered  in.  And  if  not,  let  us 
all  the  more  yield  ourselves  to  the  word  to  search  and  try  us  : 
it  will  without  fail  do  its  blessed  work  in  us,  and  prepare  us  for 


ICO  xibe  t>oUedt  of  Bll 


followiiii^  with  profit  the  further  teaching  concerning  our  Lord 
Jesus. 

For  the  word  of  God  is  living  and  active.  At  times  it  may 
appear  as  if  the  word  effects  so  Httle.  The  word  is  Hke  seed  : 
everything  depends  on  the  treatment  it  receives.  Some  receive 
the  word  with  the  understanding  :  there  it  cannot  be  quickened. 
The  word  is  meant  for  the  heart,  the  will,  the  affections.  The 
word  must  be  submitted  to,  must  be  lived,  must  be  acted  out. 
When  this  is  done  it  will  manifest  its  living,  quickening  power. 
It  is  not  we  who  have  to  make  the  word  alive.  When,  in  faith 
in  the  life  and  power  there  is  in  the  word,  the  heart  yields  itself 
in  humble  submission  and  honest  desire  to  its  action,  it  will 
prove  itself  to  be  life  and  power. 

And  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even 
to  the  dividing  of  soul  and  spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow. 
The  first  action  of  God's  word  is  to  wound,  to  cut,  to  divide. 
In  the  soul  the  natural  life  has  its  seat ;  in  the  spirit  the  spiritual 
and  divine.  Sin  has  brought  confusion  and  disorder  ;  the  spirit 
is  under  the  mastery  of  the  soul,  the  natural  life.  God's  word 
divides  and  separates ;  wakens  the  spirit  to  a  sense  of  its 
destiny  as  the  faculty  for  the  unseen  and  eternal ;  brings  the 
soul  to  a  knowledge  of  itself  as  a  captive  to  the  power  of  sin. 
It  cuts  deep  and  sure,  discovering  the  deep  corruption  of  sin. 
As  the  knife  of  the  surgeon,  who  seeks  to  heal,  pierces  even  to 
the  dividing  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  where  it  is  needed,  so  the 
word  penetrates  all ;  there  is  no  part  of  the  inner  being  to  which 
it  does  not  pass. 

And  quick  to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart.  It  is  specially  with  the  heart  that  God's  word  deals.  In 
chap.  iii.  we  read  of  the  hardened  heart,  the  evil  heart  of  unbelief, 
the  erring  heart.     When   the  word   heart  occurs   later  in   the 


Ubc  Ibolicst  of  HIl  161 


Epistle  we  shall  find  everything  changed ;  we  shall  read  of  a 
heart  in  which  God's  law  is  written,  of  a  true  heart,  a  heart 
sprinkled  with  the  blood,  a  heart  stablished  by  grace  (viii.  lo, 
X.  22,  xiii.  9).  We  have  here  the  transition  from  the  one  to  the 
other.  God's  appeal  was,  To-day,  if  ye  hear  His  voice,  harden 
not  your  heart.  The  heart  that  will  but  yield  itself  to  be  searched 
by  God's  word,  to  have  its  secret  thoughts  and  intents  discerned 
and  judged  by  it,  will  be  freed  from  its  erring  and  unbelief,  and 
quickened  and  cleansed,  and  made  a  living  table  on  which  the 
word  is  written  by  God  Himself.  Oh,  to  know  how  needful  it 
is,  but  also  how  blessed,  to  yield  our  hearts  to  the  judgment  of 
the  word. 

And  there  is  no  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  His  sight. 
God's  word  bears  the  character  of  God  Himself.  He  is  the 
all-knowing  and  all-pervading :  nothing  can  hide  itself  from 
the  judgment  of  His  word.  If  we  will  not  have  it  judge  us  now, 
it  will  condemn  us  hereafter.  For  all  things  are  naked  and 
laid  open  before  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do. 
Yes,  the  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do  is  He  of  whom  we  later 
read  :  "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living 
God."  And  again:  "Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire."  It  is  this 
God  who  now  pleads  with  us  to  enter  into  His  rest. 

Let   each  of  us   gladly  yield  ourselves  to  have  to  do  with 

Him.     If  perhaps  there  be  a  secret  consciousness  that  all  is  not 

right,  that  we  are  not  giving  diligence  to  enter  into  the  rest,  oh, 

let  us  beware  of  setting  such  thoughts  aside.     It  is  the  first 

swelling  of  the    living  seed   of  the  word  within  us.      Do   not 

regard  that  thought  as  coming  from  thyself,  or  from  man  who 

brings  thee  God's   word  ;  it  is  God   waking  thee   out   of  sleep. 

Have  to  do  with  Him.     Be  willing  that  the  word  should  show 

thee  what  is  wrong.     Be  not  afraid  of  its  discovering  to  thee  thy 
II 


162  Zhe  Iboliest  of  au 


sin  and  wretchedness.  The  knife  of  the  physician  wounds  to 
heal.  T/ie  ligJit  that  shows  thee  thy  sin  and  wrong  will  surely 
lead  thcc  ont.     The  word  is  Hving  and  will  give  thee  life. 

7.  God  has  spoken  to  iis  in  His  Son.  This  is  the  Iteynotc  of  the  Epistle.  To-day,  if  ye 
hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  heart :  this  is  the  keynote  of  this  long  and  solemn  warning. 
Let  IIS  hearken,  let  us  yield  to  the  word.  As  we  deal  with  the  word,  so  we  deal  with  God. 
And  so  will  God  deal  with  us. 

2.  Judge  of  thy  life  not  by  what  thy  heart  says,  or  the  Church,  or  the  so-called  Christian 
world — but  by  what  the  word  says.     Let  it  have  its  way  with  thee :  it  will  greatly  bless  thee. 

3.  All  things  are  naked  before  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  Why,  then, 
through  indifference  or  discouragement,  shut  thine  eyes  to  them  ?  Oh,  lay  everything  open 
before  God,  the  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do,  whether  we  will  or  not. 

4.  The  word  is  living  and  active.  Have  great  faith  in  its  power.  Be  sure  that  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  the  living  Word,  that  God  Himself  works  in  it.  The  word  ever  points  to  the  living 
God,  who  is  present  in  it,  and  makes  it  a  living  word,  in  the  heart  that  is  seeking  for  life  and 
for  God. 


Zbc  fbolicet  of  Bll  les 


FOURTH  SECTION.-iv.  14-v.  10. 
Jesus  our  High  Priest  more  than  Aaron. 


XXXIV. 

A  GREAT  HIGH  PRIEST. 

IV.— 14.  Having,  tlaen,i  a  great  High  Priest,  who  hath  passed  through  the 
heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  let  us  hold  fast  our  confession. 

After  his  digression,  in  the  warning  to  the  Hebrews,  not,  like 
their  fathers  with  Moses,  to  harden  their  hearts  through  unbelief, 
our  writer  returns  to  his  argument.  He  had  already  twice  used 
the  words  High  Priest  (ii.  i6,  iii.  i),  and  is  preparing  the  way  for 
what  is  the  great  object  of  the  Epistle — the  exposition  of  the 
heavenly  priesthood  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  work  He  has  by 
it  accomplished  for  us  (vii.-x.  i8).  In  this  section  (iv.  14-v.  10) 
he  first  gives  the  general  characteristics  of  that  priesthood,  as 
typified  by  Aaron,  and  exhibited  in  our  Lord's  life  here  on 
earth.  In  chaps,  i.  and  ii.  he  had  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
structure  in  the  divinity  and  the  humanity  of  our  Saviour: 
he  here  first  speaks  of  Him  in  His  greatness  as  a  High  Priest 
passed  through  the  heavens,  then  in  His  sympathy  and  com- 
passion, as  having  been  tempted  like  as  we  are. 

Having,  therefore,  a  great  High  Priest.      The  therefore 
refers  to  the  previous  argument,  in  which  Christ's  greatness  had 

'  Therefore. 


164  Cbe  1bolic5t  of  Bll 


been  set  forth,  and  in  \ie\v  of  the  dangers  against  which  he  had 
been  warning,  the  readers  had  been  urged  to  steadfastness  in 
holding  fast  their  confession.  The  force  of  the  appeal  lies  in 
the  word  Having'.  We  know  the  meaning  of  that  word  so  well 
in  earthly  things.  There  is  nothing  that  touches  men  so  nearly 
as  the  sense  of  ownership  of  property.  I  have  a  father,  I  have 
money,  I  Jiavc  a  home — what  a  world  of  interest  is  awakened 
in  connection  with  such  thoughts.  And  God's  word  comes 
here  and  says  :  You  Jiave, —  O  best  and  most  wonderful  of  all 
possessions, — You  have  a  great  High  Priest.  You  own  Him  ; 
He  is  yours,  your  very  own,  wholly  yours.  You  may  use  Him 
with  all  He  is  and  has.  You  can  trust  Him  for  all  you  need, 
know  and  claim  Him  as  indeed  your  great  High  Priest,  to 
bring  you  to  God.  Let  your  whole  walk  be  the  proof  that  you 
live  as  one,  having  a  great  HigJi  Priest. 

A  great  High  Priest  who  hath  passed  through  the  heavens. 
VVe  have  said  more  than  once,  and  shall  not  weary  of  repeating  it 
again,  that  one  of  the  great  lessons  of  our  Epistle  has  been  to 
teach  us  this  :  TJic  knoivledge  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  Jesus 
is  the  secret  of  a  strong  and  holy  life.  Its  opening  chapter  was 
nothing  but  a  revelation  of  His  di\'inc  nature  and  glory.  At  the 
root  of  all  it  has  to  teach  us  of  Christ's  priesthood  and  work,  it 
wants  us  to  see  the  adorable  omnipotent  divinity  of  Christ.  In 
that  our  faith  is  to  find  its  strength,  and  the  measure  of  its 
expectation.  By  that  our  conduct  is  to  be  guided.  That  is 
to  be  the  mark  of  our  life — that  we  have  a  Sa^■iour  who  is 
God.  A  great  High  Priest,  who  hath  passed  through  the 
heavens.  Later  on  we  read  (vii.  26) :  Such  an  High  Priest 
became  us,  made  higher  than  the  heavens.  It  is  difficult 
for  us  to  form  any  conception  of  what  heaven  is,  so  high, 
and    bright,  and   full   of  glory.     But   all    the    heavens   we   can 


^be  iboliest  of  Bll  i6f 


think  of  were  only  the  vestibule  through  which  he  passed  into 
that  which  is  behind,  and  above  and  beyond  them  all — the 
light  that  is  inaccessible,  the  very  life  and  presence  of  God 
Himself.  And  the  word  calls  us  to  follow  our  great  High 
Priest  in  thought,  and  when  thought  fails,  in  faith  and  worship 
and  love,  into  this  glory  beyond  and  abo\'e  all  heavens,  and, 
having  Him  as  ours,  to  be  sure  that  oar  life  can  be  the  counter- 
part of  His,  the  proof  of  what  a  complete  redemption  He  has 
wrought,  the  living  experience  of  what  he  has  effected  there. 

A  great  High  Priest,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God.  The  name 
Jesus  speaks  of  His  humanity,  and  of  His  work  as  a  Saviour 
from  sin.  This  is  the  first  work  of  the  priest — the  cleansing, 
the  putting  away  of  sin.  The  name  Son  of  God  speaks  of 
His  divinity,  and  His  power  as  High  Priest,  really  to  bring  us 
to  God,  into  the  very  life  and  fellowship  of  the  Holy  One.  It 
is  in  His  Son  God  speaks  to  us;  it  is  to  the  perfect  fellowship 
and  blessedness  of  the  ever-blessed  One  that  our  great  High 
Priest  that  is  passed  through  the  heavens  can,  and  does  indeed, 
bring  us. 

Having,  therefore,  a  great  High  Priest,  let  us  hold  fast 
our  confession!  He  is  (iii.  i)  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of 
our  confession.  The  knowledge  of  what  He  is  is  our  strength  to 
hold  fast  our  confession.  Twice  the  Hebrews  had  been  told 
how  much  would  depend  on  this  (iii.  6,  14).  "We  are  His 
how'AQ,  if  we  hold  fast."  "We  are  become  partakers  of  Christ, 
if  %ve  hold  fast."  Our  faith  in  Christ  must  be  confessed.  If  we 
have  Him  as  our  great  High  Priest,  He  is  worthy  of  it ;  our 
souls  will  delight  in  rendering  Him  this  homage  ;  without  it, 
failure  will  speedily  come  ;  without  it,  the  grace  of  steadfastness, 
perseverance,  cannot  be  maintained. 

O   brethren,  having   a   great    High    Priest,   who   is    passed 


166  ^be  -fcolicst  of  mi 


through  the  heavens,  let  us  hold  fast  our  confession.  Let  every 
thought  of  Jesus,  zn  heaven  for  us,  urge  us  to  live  wholly  for 
Him  ;  in  everything  to  confess  Him  as  our  Lord. 

7.  Ought  it  not  to  fill  our  hearts  with  worship  and  trust,  and  love  without  end,  this  wondrous 
mystery :  the  Son  of  Ood,  become  Man ;  the  Son  of  Man,  now  God  on  the  throne ;  that  we 
might  be  helped. 

2.  Who  hath  passed  through  the  heavens  !  beyond  all  thought  of  space  and  place,  into  tlie 
mystery  of  the  divine  glory  and  power !  And  why  ?  That  He  might  in  divine  power  breathe  that 
heavenly  life  into  our  hearts.  His  whole  priesthood  has,  as  its  one  great  characteristic,  heavenli- 
ness.  He  communicates  the  purity,  the  power,  the  life  of  heaven  to  us.  We  live  in  heaven  with 
Him ;  He  lives  with  heaven  in  us.  With  Him  in  our  hearts  we  have  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
within  us,  in  which  God's  will  is  done,  as  in  heaven,  so  on  earth.  Let  us  believe  it  can  most 
surely  be. 

3.  After  all  the  solemn  warning,  about  falling  in  the  wilderness,  coming  short  of  the  rest,  see 
here  your  safety  and  strength— Wherefore,  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling, 
consider  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  confession,  Jesus.  Having  Jesus,  let  us  hold 
fast. 


tlbe  Iboliest  of  ail  le; 


XXXV. 

A  HIGH  PRIEST,  ABLE  TO  SYMPATHISE. 

IV.— 15.  For  we  have  not  a  high  priest  that  cannot  be  touched  with  the 
feeling  1  of  our  infirmities;-  but  one  that  hath  been  tempted  in  all  things  like 
as  we  are,  yet  without  sin. 

May  God  in  His  mercy  give  u.s  a  true  in.sight  into  the 
glory  of  what  is  offered  us  in  these  words — even  this,  that  our 
High  Priest,  whom  we  have  in  heaven,  is  one  who  is  able  to 
sympathise  with  us,  because  He  knows,  from  personal  experi- 
ence, exactly  what  we  feel.  Yes,  that  God  might  give  us 
courage  to  draw  nigh  to  Him,  He  has  placed  upon  the  throne 
of  heaven  one  out  of  our  own  midst,  of  whom  we  can  be  certain 
that,  because  He  Himself  lived  on  earth  as  man,  He  under- 
stands us  perfectly,  is  prepared  to  have  patience  with  our 
weakness,  and  to  give  us  just  the  help  we  need.  It  was  to 
effect  this  that  God  sent  His  Son  to  become  Man,  and  as  Man 
perfected  Him  through  suffering.  That  not  one  single  feeble 
soul  should  be  afraid  to  draw  nigh  to  the  great  God,  or  in 
drawing  nigh  should  doubt  as  to  whether  God  is  not  too  great 
and  holy  fully  to  understand,  or  to  bear  with  his  weakness. 
Jesus,  the  tried  and  tempted  One,  has  been  placed  upon  the 
throne  as  our  High' Priest.  God  gives  us  a  glimpse  into  the 
heart  of  our  compassionate,  sympathising  High  Priest ! 

^  Who  is  not  able  to  sympathise  with,  -  Weaknesses* 


108  zbc  iboliciJt  of  ail 


For  we  have  not  a  high  priest  who  is  not  able  to 
sympathise  with  our  weaknesses.  The  writer  uses  the  two 
negatives  to  indicate  liow  common  the  thought  is  which  he  wishes 
to  combat.  A  rich  king,  who  Hves  every  day  in  luxury,  can  he, 
even  though  he  hear  of  it, — can  he  fully  realise  what  it  means  for 
the  poor  sick  man,  from  year  to  year,  never  to  know  where  his 
daily  bread  is  to  come  from?  Hardly.  And  God,  the  glorious 
and  ever-blessed,  can  He  truly  feel  what  a  poor  sinner  experi- 
ences in  his  daily  struggle  with  the  weakness  and  temptations 
of  the  flesh?  God  be  praised!  Jesus  knows,  and  is  able  to 
sympathise,  He  is  one  who  hath  been  in  all  things  tempted 
like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin. 

In  all  things!  The  thought  of  Jesus  as  a  sympathising 
High  Priest,  is  ordinarily  applied  to  those  who  are  in  circum- 
stances of  trial  and  suffering.  But  the  truth  has  a  far  deeper 
meaning  and  application.  It  has  special  reference  to  the 
temptation  which  meets  the  soul  in  the  desire  to  live  wholly  for 
God.  Jesus  suffered,  being  tempted :  it  was  the  temptation 
to  refuse  the  Father's  will  that  caused  His  deepest  suffering. 
As  the  believer,  who  seeks  in  all  things  to  do  the  will  of  God, 
understands  this,  the  truth  of  the  sympathising  High  Priest 
becomes  doubly  precious. 

What  is  the  ordinary  experience  of  those  who  set  them- 
selves with  their  whole  heart  to  live  for  God  ?  It  happens  very 
often  that  it  is  only  then  they  begin  to  find  out  how  sinful  they 
are.  They  arc  continually  disappointed  in  their  purpose  to 
obey  God's  will.  They  feel  deeply  ashamed  at  the  thought  of 
how  (jften,  even  in  things  that  appear  little  and  easy,  they  fail 
entirely  in  keeping  a  good  conscience  and  in  pleasing  God. 
At  times  it  is  as  if  the  more  they  hear  of  the  rest  of  God  anil 
the  life  of  faith,  the  fainter  the  hope  of  attaining  it  becomes. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  mi  i69 


At  times  they  are  ready  to  give  up  all  in  despair :  a  life  in  the 
rest  of  God  is  not  for  them. 

What  comfort  and  strength  comes  at  such  a  time  to  a  soul, 
when  it  sees  that  Jesus  is  able  to  sympathise  and  to  succour, 
because  He  has  Himself  been  thus  tempted.  Or  did  it  not 
become  so  dark  in  His  soul,  that  He  had  to  wrestle  and  to  cry, 
"  //  it  be  possible?"  and  "  IV/ij  hast  thou  forsaken  Me?  "  He, 
too,  had  to  trust  God  in  the  dark.  He,  too,  in  the  hour  of 
death  had  to  let  go  His  spirit,  and  commit  it,  in  the  darkness  of 
death,  into  God's  keeping.  He  knew  what  it  was  to  walk  in 
darkness  and  see  no  light.  And  when  a  man  feels  utterly 
helpless  and  in  despair,  Jesus  can  sympathise  with  him  ;  He 
was  tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we  are.  If  we  would  but  rest 
in  the  assurance  that  He  understands  it  all,  that  He  feels  for  us 
with  a  sympathy,  in  which  the  infinite  love  of  God  and  the 
tenderness  of  a  fellow-sufferer  are  combined,  and  is  able  to 
succour  him,  we  should  soon  reach  the  rest  of  God.  Trusting 
Jesus  would  bring  us  into  it. 

Holy  brethren  !  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling!  would  you 
be  strong  to  hold  fast  your  confession,  and  know  in  full  the 
power  of  your  Redeemer  God  to  save  ;  listen  to-day  to  the 
voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  Jesus  was  in  all  things  tempted  just 
as  you  are.  And  why?  that  He  might  be  able  to  help  you. 
His  being  a/'/e  to  sympatJiise  has  no  other  purpose  than  that  He 
should  be  able  to  sjicconr.  Let  the  one  word  be  the  food  of 
your  faith ;  the  other  will  be  its  fruit,  your  blessed  experience. 
Just  think  of  God  giving  His  Son  to  come  and  pass  through  all 
the  temptations  that  come  to  you,  that  He  might  be  able  to 
sympathise,  and  then  lifting  Him  up  to  the  throne  of  omnipo- 
tence that  He  might  be  able  to  succour,  and  say  if  you  have 
not    reason    to   trust    Him    fully.      And    let   the    faith    of  the 


170  ^be  IboUest  of  BU 


blessed  High  Priest  in  His  infinite  and  tender  sympathy  be  the 
foundation  of  a  friendship  and  a  fellowship  in  which  we  are 
sure  to  experience  that  He  is  able  to  save  completely, 

7.  Some  time  ago  I  ashed  a  young  lady  who  had  come  from  Kesuiich,  and  spoke  of  her  having 
been  a  happy  Christian  for  years  before,  and  having  found  such  a  wonderful  change  in  her 
experience,  how  she  would  describe  the  difference  between  what  she  had  known  before  and  now 
enjoyed.  Her  answer  was  ready  at  once  :  "Oh,  it  is  the  personal  friendship  of  Jesus  I"  And 
here  is  one  of  the  gates  that  lead  into  this  blessed  friendship  :  He  became  a  Man  just  that  I  might 
learn  to  trust  His  gentle,  sympathising  kindness. 

2.  Study  well  the  three  ables  of  this  Epistle.  Jesus  able  to  sympathise,  able  to  succour, 
able  to  saue  completely.     And  claim  all. 

3.  Tempted  like  as  we  are.  He  was  made  like  to  us  in  temptation,  that  we  might  become 
like  Him  in  victory.  This  He  will  accomplish  in  us.  Oh,  let  us  consider  Jesus,  who  suffered  being 
tempted,  who  experienced  what  temptation  is,  who  resisted  and  overcame  it,  and  brought  to 
nought  the  tempter,  who  now  Hues  as  High  Priest  to  succour  the  tempted  and  give  the  victory- 
let  us  consider  Jesus,  the  ever-present  Deliverer :  He  will  lead  us  in  triumph  throifgh  every  foe. 


^be  IboUest  ot  ail  i7i 


XXXVI. 

LET  US  DRAW  NEAR  WITH  BOLDNESS. 

IV.— 16.  Let  us  therefore  draw  near  with  boldness  unto  the  throne  of 
race,  that  we  may  receive  mercy,  and  may  find  grace  to  help  us  in  time  of 
need.i 

In  the  first  two  chapters  the  true  divinity  and  the  real  humanity 
of  our  Saviour  were  set  before  us,  as  the  very  foundation  of  our 
faith  and  Hfe.  In  the  two  verses  we  have  just  been  considering 
these  two  truths  are  applied  to  the  priesthood  of  Christ. 
Having  a  great  High  Priest  who  hath  passed  through  the 
heavens ;  having  an  High  Priest  who  is  able  to  sympathise ; 
let  us  draw  near.  The  one  work  of  the  High  Priest  is  to  bring 
us  near  to  God.  The  one  object  of  revealing  to  us  His  person 
and  work  is  to  give  us  perfect  confidence  in  drawing  near.  The 
measure  of  our  nearness  of  access  to  God  is  the  index  of  our 
knowledge  of  Jesus. 

Let  us  therefore,  with  such  an  High  Priest,  draw  near 
with  boldness  to  the  throne  of  grace.  The  word,  ^razc  nmr, 
is  that  used  of  the  priests  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  this  one 
truth  the  Epistle  seeks  to  enforce,  that  we  can  actually,  in 
spiritual  reality,  draw  near  to  God,  and  live  in  that  nearness, 
in  living  fellowship  with  Him,  all  the  day.  The  work  of  Christ, 
as  our  High  Priest,  is  so  perfect,  and  His  power  in  heaven  so 
divine,  that  He  not  only  gives  us  the  right  and  liberty  to  draw 

^  For  timely  help. 


172  ZbC  tOUC6t  Of  ail 


nigh,  but  by  His  priestly  action  He  does  in  very  deed  and 
truth,  so  take  possession  of  our  inmost  beini^  and  inward  life, 
and  draw  and  bring  us  nigh,  that  our  life  can  be  lived  in  God's 
presence. 

Let  us  draw  near.  The  expression  occurs  twice ;  here  and 
X.  21.  The  repetition  is  significant.  In  the  second  passage, 
after  the  deeper  truths  of  the  true  sanctuary,  and  the  rent  veil, 
and  the  opening  of  the  Holiest,  have  been  expounded,  it  refers  to 
the  believer's  entrance  into  the  full  blessing  of  a  life  spent  in  the 
power  of  Christ's  heavenly  priesthood,  in  the  presence  of  God. 
Here,  where  all  this  teaching  has  not  yet  been  given,  it  is  applied 
more  simply  to  prayer,  to  the  drawing  nigh  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  in  a  sense  which  the  feeblest  believer  can  understand  it. 
It  is  as  we  are  faithful  in  the  lesser,  the  tarrying  before  the 
throne  of  grace  in  prayer,  that  we  shall  find  access  to  the 
greater — the  life  within  the  veil,  in  the  full  power  of  the 
Forerunner  who  hath  entered  there  for  us. 

Let  us  draw  near,  that  we  may  receive  mercy.  This 
has  reference  to  that  compassion  which  we  need  when  the 
sense  of  sin  and  guilt  and  unworthiness  depress  us.  In 
drawing  nigh  to  the  throne  of  grace,  to  the  mercy-seat,  in 
pra}'er,  we  first  recei\'e  mere)',  we  experience  that  God  pardons 
and  accepts  and  loves.  And  we  find  grace  for  timely 
help.  This  refers  to  that  strengthening  of  the  inner  life  b}- 
which  He,  who  was  tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we,  meets 
us  and  enables  us  to  conquer  temptation.  Grace  is  the  divine 
strength  working  in  us.  "  M)-  jrnne  is  sufficient  for  thee ; 
my  power  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."  The  Holy  Spirit  is 
"  the  Spirit  of  grace."  The  believing  supplicant  at  the  throne 
of  grace  not  only  receives  mercy,  the  consciousness  of  accept- 
ance and  favour,  but  finds  grace,  in  that  Spirit  whose  operation 


XLbc  Iboltest  of  Bll  173 


the  Father  always  deHghts  to  bestow.  And  that  grace  is 
for  timely  help,  ///.  "well-timed  help,"  just  the  special  help 
we  need  at  each  moment.  The  infinite  mercy  of  God's  love 
resting  on  us,  and  the  almighty  grace  of  His  Spirit  working  in 
us,  will  ever  be  found  at  a  throne  of  grace,  if  we  but  come 
boldly,  trusting  in  Jesus  alone. 

And  now  comes  the  chief  word,  "  Let  us  therefore  draw  near 
with  boldness."  We  have  already  been  taught  to  hold  fast 
our  boldness.  We  shall  later  on  be  warned,  cast  not  away 
your  boldness.  And  the  summing  up  of  the  Epistle  will  tell 
us  that  the  great  fruit  of  Christ's  redemption  is  that  we  have 
boldness  to  enter  in.  It  is  the  expression  of  the  highest  form  of 
confidence,  in  the  unhesitating  assurance  that  there  is  nothing 
that  can  hinder,  and  in  a  conduct  that  corresponds  to  this 
conviction.  It  suggests  the  thought  of  our  drawing  nigh  to 
God's  throne  without  fear,  without  doubt,  with  no  other  feeling 
but  that  of  the  childlike  liberty  which  a  child  feels  in  speaking 
to  its  father. 

This  boldness  is  what  the  blood  of  Christ,  in  its  infinite 
worth,  has  secured  for  us,  and  what  His  heavenly  priesthood 
works  and  maintains  in  us.  This  boldness  is  the  natural  and 
necessary  result  of  the  adoring  and  believing  gaze  fixed  on  our 
great  High  Priest  upon  the  throne.  This  boldness  is  what  the 
Holy  Spirit  works  in  us  as  the  inward  participation  in  Christ's 
entrance  into  the  Father's  presence.  This'  boldness  is  of  the 
essence  of  a  healthy  Christian  life.  If  there  is  one  thing  the 
Christian  should  care  for  and  aim  at,  it  is  to  maintain  unbroken 
and  unclouded  the  living  conviction  and  practice  of  this  dra^ving 
near  zvith  boldness. 

Let  us,  therefore,  draw  near  with  boldness  !  Jesus  the  Son 
God  is  our  High  Priest.     Our  boldness  of  access  is  not  a  state 


174  Zbc  Ibollest  of  au 


\vc  produce  in  ourselves  by  meditation  or  effort.  No,  the 
li\ing,  loving  High  Priest,  who  is  able  to  sympathise  and  gives 
grace  for  timely  help,  He  breathes  and  works  this  boldness  in 
the  soul  that  is  willing  to  lose  itself  in  Him.  Jesus,  found  and 
felt  within  our  heart  by  faith,  is  our  boldness.  As  the  Son, 
whose  house  we  are,  He  will  dwell  within  us,  and  by  His 
Spirit's  working.  Himself  be  our  boldness  and  our  entrance 
to  the  Father.    Let  us,  therefore,  draw  near  with  boldness ! 

7.  Do  take  hold  of  the  thought  that  the  whole  teaching  of  the  Epistle  centres  in  this,  that 
we  should  so  be  partakers  of  Christ  and  all  He  is,  should  so  have  Him  as  our  High  Priest, 
that  we  may  with  perfect  boldness,  with  the  most  undoubting  confidence  enter  into,  and  dwell 
in,  and  enjoy  the  Father's  presence.  It  is  in  the  heart  that  we  partake  of  and  have  Christ  ; 
it  is  Christ,  known  as  dwelling  in  the  heart,  that  will  make  our  boldness  perfect. 

2.  Each  time  you  pray,  exercise  this  boldness.  Let  the  measure  of  Jesus'  m^it,  yea  more, 
let  the  measure  of  Jesus'  power  to  work  in  you  and  lead  you  on  to  God,  be  the  measure  of  your 
boldness. 

3.  What  tenderness  of  conscience,  what  care,  what  Jealousy,  what  humility,  this  boldness 
will  work,  lest  we  allow  anything  for  which  our  heart  can  condemn  us,  and  wc  so  lose  our  liberty 
before  God.     Then  it  will  truly  be  our  experience  — 

So  near,  so  uery  near  to  God, 
More  near  I  cannot  be. 


Zbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll  17! 


XXXVII. 

THE  HIGH  PRIEST  BEARING  GENTLY  WITH  THE  IGNORANT. 

v.— 1.  For  every  high  priest,  being  taken  from  among  men,  is  appointed  for 
men  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  that  he  may  offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices 
for  sins : 

2.  Who  can  bear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and  erring,  for  that  he  himself 
also  is  compassed  with  infirmity ; ' 

3.  And  by  reason  thereof  is  bound,  as  for  the  people,  so  also  for  himself,  to 
offer  for  sins. 

We  know  how  much  the  Epistle  has  already  said  of  the  true 
humanity  and  sympathy  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  chap.  ii. 
we  read :  It  became  God  to  perfect  Him  through  suffering ; 
Since  the  children  are  sharers  of  flesh  and  blood,  He  also 
in  like  manner  partook  of  the  same.  It  behoved  Him  in  all 
things  to  be  made  like  unto  His  brethren.  In  that  He  Him- 
self hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  He  is  able  to  succour 
them  that  are  tempted.  And  in  chap,  iv.  we  have  just  heard, 
We  have  not  a  high  priest  who  is  not  able  to  sympathise 
with  our  weaknesses,  but  one  who  hath  in  all  things  been 
tempted  like  as  we  are.  And  yet  the  truth  is  counted  of 
such  importance,  that  once  again  our  attention  is  directed 
to  it.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  have  a  general  conviction  of 
its  truth,  but  we  need  to  have  it  taken  up  into  our  heart  and 
life,  until  every  thought  of  Jesus  is  interpenetrated  by  such 
a  feeling  of  His  sympathy,  that  all  sense  of  weakness  shall 

^  Weakness. 


176  Zbc  Ibolicgt  of  Hll 


at  once  be  met  by  the  joyful  consciousness  that  all  is  well, 
because  Jesus  is  so  very  kind,  and  cares  so  lovingly  for  all  our 
feebleness  and  all  our  ignorance. 

Let  us  listen  once  again  to  wiiat  the  word  teaches.  Every 
high  priest  being  taken  from  among  men,  is  appointed  for 
men  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  that  He  may  offer  both  gifts 
and  sacrifices  for  sins.  Here  we  have  the  wfjrk  of  a  high 
priest,  and  the  first  essential  requisite  for  that  work.  His  work 
is  /;/  tilings  pertaining  to  God:  he  has  charge  of  all  that 
concerns  the  access  to  God,  His  worship  and  ser\ice,  and  has, 
for  this,  to  offer  gifts  and  sacrifices.  And  the  requisite  is,  he 
must  be  a  man,  because  he  is  to  act  for  men.  And  that  for  this 
great  reason  that  he  ma}'  be  one  who  can  bear  gently  with  the 
ignorant  and  erring,  for  that  he  himself  also  is  compassed 
with  weakness ;  and  who  by  reason  thereof  is  bound,  as  for 
the  people,  so  also  for  himself  to  offer  for  sins.  At  the  root  of 
the  priestly  office  there  is  to  be  the  sense  of  perfect  oneness  in 
w^eakness  and  need  of  help.  In  priestly  action  this  is  to  mani- 
fest itself  in  sacrificing,  as  for  the  people,  so  for  himself. 
And  all  this,  that  the  priestly  spirit  may  e\-er  be  kept  alive  for 
the  comfort  and  confidence  of  all  the  needy  and  weary — he 
must  be  one  who  can  bear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and 
erring. 

Glory  be  to  God  for  the  wondrous  picture  of  what  our  Lord 
Jesus  is.  A  priest  must  be  God's  representatixe  with  men. 
But  he  cannot  be  this,  without  being  himself  a  man  himself 
encompassed  with  weaknesses,  and  so  identified  with  and 
representing  men  with  God.  This  was  why  Jesus  was  made 
a  little  lower  than  the  angels.  The  high  priest  is  to  offer  as 
fur  the  people,  so  for  himself.  Offering  for  himself  was  to  be 
the  bond  of  union  with  the  people.     Even  so  our  blessed  Lord 


^beilbolfcst  of  ail  i77 


Jesus  offered  {see  ver.  7),  prayers  and  supplications  with  strong 

crying  and  tears,  yea,  in  all  that,  offered  Himself  unto  God. 

And  all  this,  that  He  might  win  our  hearts  and  confidence  as 

one  who  can  bear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and  erring.     God 

has  indeed  done  everything  to  assure  us  that,  with  such  an 

High  Priest,  no  ignorance  or  error  need  make  us  afraid  of  not 

finding  the  way  to  Him  and  His  love.     Jesus  will  care  for  us — 

He  bears  gently  with  the  ignorant  and  erring. 

Have  we  not,  in  our  faith  in  the  priesthood  of  Christ,  been 

too  much  in  the  habit  of  looking  more  at  His  work  than  at  His 

heart  ?     Have  we  not  too  exclusively  put  the  thought  of  our 

sins  in  the  foreground,  and   not  sufficiently  realised  that  our 

weaknesses,  our  ignorance   and   errors — that    for   these  too   a 

special  provision  has  been  made  in  Him  who  was  made  like  us, 

and  Himself  encompassed  with  weaknesses,  that  he  might  be  a 

merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest,  who  can  bear  gently  with  the 

ignorant  and  erring.     Oh,  let  us  take  in  and  avail  ourselves  to 

the  full  of  the  wondrous  message :  Jesus  could  not  ascend  the 

throne  as  Priest,  until  He  had  first,  in  the  school  of  personal 

experience,  learnt  to  sympathise  and  to  bear  gently  with  the 

feeblest.       And   let    our   weakness  and    ignorance   henceforth, 

instead  of  discouraging  and  keeping  us  back,  be  the  motive  and 

the  plea  which  lead  us  to  come  boldly  to  Him  for  help,  who  can 

bear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and  erring.     In  the  pursuit  of 

holiness  our  ignorance  is  often  our  greatest  source  of  failure. 

We  cannot  fully  understand  what  is  taught  of  the  rest  of  God, 

and  the  power  of  faith,  of  dwelling  within  the  veil  or  of  Christ 

dwelling  in  our  heart.     Things  appear  too  high  for  us,  utterly 

beyond  our  reach.     If  we  but  knew  to  trust  Jesus,  not  only  as 

He  who  made  propitiation   for  our  sins,  but  as  one  who  has 

been   specially   chosen    and    trained   and   prepared,   and    then 
12 


178  (Tbc  -fcoliest  of  BH 


elevated  to  the  throne  of  God,  to  be  the  Leader  of  the  ignorant 
and  erring,  bearing  gently  with  their  every  weakness !  Let  us 
this  day  afresh  accept  this  Saviour,  as  God  has  here  revealed 
Him  to  us,  and  rejoice  that  all  our  ignorance  need  not  be  a 
barrier  in  the  way  to  God,  because  Jesus  takes  it  into  His  care. 

1.  Oh  the  trouble  Ood  has  taken  to  win  out  poor  hearts  to  trust  and  confidence.  Let  us  accept 
the  revelation,  and  have  our  hearts  so  filled  with  the  sympathy  and  gentleness  of  Jesus,  that  in 
every  perplexity  our  first  thought  shall  always  be  the  certainty  and  the  blessedness  of  His 
compassion  and  help. 

2.  How  many  souls  there  are  who  mourn  over  their  sins,  and  do  not  thinh  that  they  are 
making  their  sins  more  and  stronger  by  not  going  with  all  their  ignorance  and  weakness  boldly  to 
Jesus. 

3.  Do  learn  the  lesson  :  the  whole  priesthood  of  Jesus  has  but  this  one  object,  to  lead  thee 
boldly  and  joyfully  to  draw  near  to  God,  and  Hue  in  fellowship  with  Him.  With  this  view  trust 
Jetua  aa  definitely  with  thy  ignorance  and  weakness  as  with  thy  sins. 


Zbe  tboliest  of  ail  ns 


XXXVIII. 

THE  HIGH  PRIEST,  CALLED  OF   GOD. 

V.-4.  And  no  man  taketh  the  honovir  unto  himself,  but  when  he  is  called 
of  God,  even  as  was  Aaron. 

5.  So  Christ  also  glorified  not  Himself  to  be  made  a  high  priest,  but  he 
that  spake  unto  him. 

Thou  art  my  Son, 

This  day  have  I  begotten  thee : 

6.  As  he  saith  also  in  another  place, 

Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever 
After  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 

A  PRIEST  sustains  a  twofold  relationship— to  God  and  to  man. 
Every  high  priest  is  appointed  /or  men  in  things  pertaining  to 
God.  We  have  just  seen  what  the  great  characteristic  is  of  his 
relation  to  men  :  he  must  himself  be  a  man,  like  them  and  one 
with  them,  with  a  heart  full  of  gentleness  and  sympathy  for  the 
very  weakest.  In  his  relation  to  God,  our  Epistle  now  proceeds 
to  say,  the  chief  requirement  is  that  he  should  have  his  appoint- 
ment from  God.  He  must  not  take  the  honour  to  himself:  he 
must  be  called  of  God.     All  this  is  proved  to  be  true  of  Jesus. 

The  truth  that  Jesus  had  His  appointment  from  God  was 
not  only  of  importance  to  the  Hebrews  to  convince  them  of  the 
divine  and  supreme  right  of  Christianity  ;  it  is  of  equal  interest 
to  us,  to  give  us  an  insight  into  that  which  constitutes  the  real 
glory  and  power  of  our  religion.  Our  faith  needs  to  be  fed  and 
strengthened,  and  this  can  only  be  as  we  enter  more  deeply 
into  the  divine  origin  and  nature  of  redemption. 


180  Zbe  Ibolicst  of  ail 


No  man  taketh  the  honour  unto  himself,  but  when  he  is 
called  of  God.  It  is  God  against  whom  we  have  sinned,  in 
separation  from  whom  we  are  fallen  into  the  power  of  death. 
It  is  God  we  need ;  it  is  to  Him  and  His  love  the  way  must  be 
opened.  It  is  God  alone,  who  can  say  what  that  way  is,  who  is 
able  to  have  it  opened  up.  And  this  now  is  what  gives  the 
gospel,  and  our  faith  in  Christ,  its  security  and  sufficiency — that  it 
is  all  of  God.  Christ  has  been  called  of  God  to  be  High  Priest. 
The  very  God  who  created  us,  against  whom  we  sinned,  gives 
His  Son  as  our  Redeemer. 

So  Christ  also  glorified  not  Himself  to  be  made  a  High 
Priest,  but  He  that  spake  unto  Him,  Thou  art  My  Son,  this  day 
I  have  begotten  thee.  As  He  saith  also  in  another  place,  Thou 
art  a  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  Here  it 
is  not  merel}'  the  fact  that  Christ  was  called  of  God  to  be  High 
Priest,  but  the  ground  upon  which  He  was  chosen,  that  we  must 
specially  notice.  The  two  passages  quoted  teach  us  that  it  was 
as  Son  of  God  that  He  was  appointed  High  Priest,  This  opens 
up  to  us  the  true  nature  and  character  of  the  priesthood.  It 
shows  us  that  the  priesthood  is  rooted  in  the  sonship :  the  work 
of  the  priesthood  is  to  rev-eal  and  communicate  the  blessed 
life  of  sonship. 

As  Son,  Christ  alone  was  heir  of  all  that  God  had.  All 
the  life  of  the  heather  was  in  Him.  God  could  have  no  union 
or  fellowship  with  any  creature  but  through  His  beloved  Son, 
or  as  far  as  the  life  and  spirit  and  image  of  the  Son  was  seen 
in  it.  Therefore  no  one  could  be  our  High  Priest  but  the  Son 
of  God.  If  our  salvation  was  not  to  be  a  merely  legal  one — 
external  and,  I  may  say,  artificial — but  an  entrance  anew  into 
the  very  life  of  God,  with  the  restoration  of  the  divine  nature  we 
had  lost  in  paradise,  it  was  the  Son  of  God  alone  who  could 


^be  iboUest  of  ail  isi 


impart  this  to  us.  He  had  the  life  of  God  to  give  ;  He  was  able 
to  give  it ;  He  could  only  give  it  by  taking  us  into  living  fellow- 
ship with  Himself.  The  priesthood  of  Christ  is  the  God-devised 
channel  through  which  the  ever-blessed  Son  could  make  us  par- 
takers of  Himself,  and  with  Himself  of  all  the  life  and  glory  He 
hath  from  and  in  the  Father. 

And  this  now  is  our  confidence  and  safety — that  it  was  the 
Father  who  appointed  the  Son  High  Priest.  It  is  the  love  of  the 
God  against  whom  we  had  sinned  that  gave  the  Son.  It  is  the 
will  and  the  power  of  this  God  that  ordained  and  worked  out 
the  great  salvation.  It  is  in  God  Himself  our  salvation  has  its 
origin,  its  life,  its  power.  It  is  God  drawing  nigh  to  communi- 
cate Himself  to  us  in  His  Son. 

Christ  glorified  not  Himself  to  be  made  a  High  Priest :  it 
was  God  gave  Him  this  glory.  Just  think  what  this  means. 
God  counts  it  an  honour  for  His  Son  to  be  the  Priest  of  poor 
sinners.  Jesus  gave  up  His  everlasting  glory  for  the  sake  of 
this  new,  which  He  now  counts  His  highest,  glory — the  honour  of 
leading  guilty  men  to  God.  Every  cry  of  a  penitent  for  mercy, 
every  prayer  of  a  ransomed  soul  for  more  grace  and  nearer 
access  to  God,  He  counts  these  His  highest  honour,  the  proofs 
of  a  glory  He  has  received  from  His  Father  above  the  glory  of 
sonship,  or  rather  the  opening  up  of  the  fulness  of  glory  which 
His  sonship  contained. 

O  thou  doubting  troubled  soul !  wilt  thou  not  now  believe 
this :  that  Jesus  counts  it  His  highest  honour  to  do  His  work  in 
any  needy  one  that  turns  to  Him?  The  Son  of  God  in  His 
glory  counts  His  priesthood  His  highest  glory,  as  the  power  of 
making  us  partake  as  brethren  with  Him  in  the  life  and  love  of 
the  Father.  Do  let  Jesus  now  become  thy  confidence.  Be 
assured  that  nothing  delights  Jesus  more  than  to  do  His  work. 


182  tTbe  iJoHest  of  ail 


Do  thou  what  God  hath  done  ;  glorify  Him  as  thy  High  Priest ; 
and,  as  thou  Icarnest  to  turn  from  thyself  and  all  human  help,  to 
trust  the  Son  of  God,  He  will  prove  to  thee  what  a  great  High 
Priest  He  is  ;  He  will,  as  Son,  lead  thee  into  the  life  and  love  of 
the  heather. 

/.  Could  God  have  bcstoived  a  more  wondrous  grace  upon  us  than  this,  to  give  His  own  Son  as 
our  High  Priest  ?  Could  He  have  given  us  a  surer  ground  of  faith  and  hope  than  this,  that  the  Son 
is  Priest  ?    And  shall  we  not  trust  Him  ?  and  give  Him  the  honour  God  has  given  Him  ? 

2.  What  is  needed  is  that  we  occupy  and  exercise  our  faith  in  appropriating  this  blessed 
truth  :  Jesus  is  the  eternal  Son,  appointed  by  the  Father  as  our  Priest  to  introduce  us  into  His 
presence,  and  to  keep  us  there.  He  was  Himself  so  compassed  with  weaknesses  and  tried  with 
temptations,  that  no  ignorance  or  weakness  on  our  part  can  weary  Him,  or  prevent  Him  doing 
His  blessed  work—\(  we  will  only  trust  Him.  Oh,  let  us  worship  and  honour  Him.  Let  us 
trust  Him.     Let  our  faith  claim  all  He  is  able  and  willing  to  do— our  God-appointed  High  Priest. 

3.  Faith  opens  the  heart— through  faith  this  divine  Being  Jills,  pervades,  the  whole  heart, 
dwells  in  it.  He  cannot  bring  thee  nigh  to  God  except  as  He  brings  thy  heart  nigh.  He  cannot 
bring  thy  heart  nigh  except  as  He  dwells  in  it.  He  cannot  dwell  in  it  except  as  thou  believest. 
Oh,  consider  Jesus,  until  thy  whole  heart  is  faith  in  Him  and  what  He  is  in  thee. 


ZbC  IbOllCSt  of  aU  183 


XXXIX, 

THE  HIGH  PRIEST  LEARNING  OBEDIENCE. 

v.— 7.  Who  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  having  offered  up  prayers  and  suppUca- 
tions,  with  strong  crying  and  tears,  unto  him  that  was  able  to  save  him  out  of 
death,  and  having  been  heard  for  his  godly  fear, 

8.  Though  he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  he 
suffered. 

We  have  already  noticed  with  what  persistence  the  writer  has 
sought  to  impress  upon  us  the  intense  reaHty  of  Christ's 
humanity — His  being  made  like  unto  His  brethren,  His  par- 
taking of  flesh  and  blood  in  like  manner  as  ourselves,  His 
being  tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we  are.  In  the  opening 
verses  of  our  chapter  he  has  again  set  before  us  the  true  High 
Priest — Himself  compassed  with  weaknesses.  He  now  once 
more  returns  to  the  subject.  In  ver.  6  he  has  already  quoted 
the  promise  in  regard  to  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  as  the  text 
of  his  farther  teaching,  but  feels  himself  urged  to  interpose,  and 
before  repeating  the  quotation  in  ver.  ii,  still  more  fully  to 
unfold  what  the  full  meaning  is  of  the  blessed  humiliation  of 
the  Son  of  God.  He  leads  us  in  spirit  down  into  Gethsemane, 
and  speaks  of  the  wondrous  mystery  of  the  agony  there,  as  the 
last  stage  in  the  preparation  and  the  perfecting  of  our  High 
Priest  for  the  work  He  came  to  do.  Let  us  enter  this  holy  place 
with  hearts  bowed  under  a  consciousness  of  our  ignorance, 
but  thirsting  to  know  something  more  of  the  great  mystery  of 
godliness,  the  Son  of  God  become  flesh  for  us. 


184  XLbe  fboUeet  of  ail 


Who  in  the  days  of  His  flesh.  The  word  "  flesh  "  i^oints  to 
human  nature  in  the  weakness  which  is  the  mark  of  its  fallen 
state.  When  Jesus  said  to  His  disciples  in  that  dark  night, 
"  Watch  and  pray  ;  the  spirit  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak," 
He  spoke  from  personal  experience.  He  had  felt  that  it  was 
not  enough  to  have  a  right  purpose,  but  that,  unless  the  weak- 
ness of  the  flesh  were  upheld,  or  rather  overcome,  by  power 
received  in  prayer  from  above,  that  weakness  would  so  easily 
enter  into  temptation,  and  become  sin.  The  days  of  His  flesh, 
encompassed  with  its  weaknesses,  were  to  Him  a  terrible  reality. 
It  was  not  to  yield  to  this  that  He  watched  and  prayed. 

Who  in  the  days  of  His  flesh,  having  offered  up  prayers 
and  supplications  with  strong  crying  and  tears  unto  Him 
that  was  able  to  save  Him  out  of  death,  and  having  been 
heard  for  His  godly  fear,  having  gained  the  strength  to 
surrender  His  will  and  fully  accept  the  Father's  will,  and  the 
renewed  assurance  that  He  would  be  saved  and  raised  out  of  it, 
though  He  was  a  Son, — the  form  of  the  expression  implies 
that  no  one  would  have  expected  from  the  Son  of  God  what  is 
now  to  be  said, — yet  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which 
He  suffered.  Gethsemane  was  the  training-school  where  our 
High  Priest,  made  like  to  us  in  all  things,  learnt  His  last  and 
most  difficult  lesson  of  obedience  through  what  He  suffered. 

Though  He  was  a  Son.  As  the  Son  of  God,  come  from 
heaven,  one  would  say  that  there  could  be  no  thought  of  His 
learning  obedience.  But  so  real  was  His  emptying  Himself  of 
His  life  in  glory,  and  so  complete  His  entrance  into  all  the  con- 
ditions and  likeness  of  our  nature,  that  He  did  indeed  need  to 
learn  obedience.  This  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  life  of  a 
reasonable  creature,  of  man,  that  the  life  and  the  will  he  has 
received  from  God  cannot  be  de\elopcd  without  the  exercise  of 


tlbe  Iboltest  of  Bll  iss 


a  self-determining  power,  without  the  voluntary  giving  up  to 
God  in  all  that  He  asks,  even  where  it  appears  a  sacrifice.  The 
creature  can  only  attain  his  perfection  under  a  law  of  growth, 
of  trial,  and  of  development,  in  the  overcoming  of  what  is  con- 
trary to  God's  will,  and  the  assimilating  of  what  that  will 
reveals. 

Of  Jesus  it  is  written :  The  child  grew,  and  ivaxed  strong, 
becoming  fidl  of  wisdom.  What  is  true  of  His  childhood  is 
true  of  His  maturer  years.  At  each  stage  of  life  He  had  to 
meet  temptation,  and  overcome  it;  out  of  each  victory  He 
came  with  His  will  strengthened,  and  His  power  over  the  weak- 
ness of  the  flesh,  and  the  danger  of  yielding  to  its  desire  for 
earthly  good,  or  its  fear  of  temporal  evil,  increased.  In  Geth- 
semane  His  trial  and  His  obedience  reached  their  consummation. 

He  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  He  suffered. 
Suffering  is  something  unnatural,  the  fruit  of  sin.  God  has 
made  us  for  joy.  He  created  us  not  only  with  the  capacity,  but 
the  power  of  happiness,  so  that  every  breath  and  every  healthy 
movement  should  be  enjoyment.  It  is  natural  to  us,  it  was  so 
to  the  Son  of  God,  to  fear  and  flee  suffering.  In  this  desire 
there  is  nothing  sinful.  It  only  becomes  sinful  where  God 
would  have  us  submit  and  suffer,  and  we  refuse.  This  was  the 
temptation  of  the  power  of  darkness  in  Gethsemane — for  Jesus 
to  refuse  the  cup.  In  His  prayers  and  supplications,  with  strong 
crying  and  tears,  Jesus  maintained  His  allegiance  to  God's  will  : 
in  wrestlings  and  bloody  sweat  He  became  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  cross.  The  deepest  suffering  taught  Him 
the  highest  lesson  of  obedience :  when  He  had  yielded  His  will 
and  His  life,  His  obedience  was  complete,  and  He  Himself  was 
perfected  for  evermore. 

This  is  our  High  Priest.     He  knows  what  the  weakness  of 


ISO  Ube  t>oUc0t  ot  Bll 


the  flesh  is.  He  knows  what  it  costs  to  conquer  it,  and  how 
little  we  are  able  to  do  it.  He  lives  in  heaven,  able  to  succour 
us ;  sympathising  with  our  weaknesses ;  bearing  gently  with 
the  ignorant  and  erring;  a  High  Priest  on  the  throne,  that  we 
may  boldly  draw  nigh  to  find  grace  for  timely  help.  He  lives 
in  heaven  and  in  our  heart,  to  impart  to  us  His  own  spirit  of 
obedience,  so  that  His  priesthood  may  bring  us  into  the  full 
enjoyment  of  all  He  Himself  has  and  is. 

7.  Heard  for  His  godly  fear.  Hoiu  it  becomes  me  then  to  pray  in  humble,  holy  reuerence, 
that  I  may  pray  in  His  spirit,  and  be  heard  too  for  His  godly  fear.  This  was  the  very  spirit  of  His 
prayer  and  obedience. 

2.  He  learned  obedience  through  suflfering.  Learn  to  looh  upon  and  to  welcome  all 
suffering  as  God's  message  to  teach  obedience. 

3.  He  learned  obedience:  This  was  the  path  in  which  Christ  was  trained  for  His  priesthood. 
This  is  the  spirit  and  the  power  that  filled  Him  for  the  throne  of  glory ;  the  spirit  and  the 
power  which  alone  can  lift  us  there ;  the  spirit  and  the  power  which  our  great  High  Priest  can  im- 
part to  us.  Obedience  is  of  the  very  essence  of  salvation.  Whether  we  looh  at  Christ  being 
perfected  personally,  or  at  the  merit  that  gaue  His  death  its  value  and  saving  power,  or  at  the 
work  wrought  in  us— obedience,  the  entrance  into  the  will  of  God,  is  the  very  essence  of 
salvation. 

4.  He  learned  obedience.  Jesus  was  obedience  embodied,  obedience  incarnate,  I  have  only 
as  much  of  Jesus  in  me  as  I  have  of  the  spirit  of  obedience. 


^be  1bo«c6t  of  ail  187 


XL. 

THE   HIGH   PRIEST,   PERFECTED   THROUGH   OBEDIENCE. 

v.— 8.  Though  he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which 
he  suffered ; 

9.  And  having  been  made  perfect,  he  became  unto  all  them  that  obey  him, 
the  cause  of  eternal  salvation. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  He 
suifered.  Through  this  obedience  He  was  made  perfect,  and 
became  the  cause  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  that  obey  Him. 
So  he  entered  heaven  as  our  High  Priest,  a  Son,  perfected 
for  evermore. 

The  word  perfect  is  one  of  the  keywords  of  the  Epistle.  It 
occurs  thirteen  times.  Four  times  in  regard  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  could  make  nothing  perfect.  The  law  made 
nothing  perfect  (vii,  19).  Sacrifices  that  cannot,  as  touching 
the  conscience,  make  the  worshipper  perfect  (ix.  9).  The  law 
can  never  make  perfect  them  that  draw  nigh  (x.  i).  That 
apart  from  us  they  should  not  be  made  perfect  (xi.  40).  As 
great  as  is  the  difference  between  a  promise  and  its  fulfil- 
ment, or  hope  and  the  thing  hoped  for,  between  the  shadow 
and  substance,  is  the  difference  between  the  Old  and  New 
Testament.  The  law  made  nothing  perfect :  it  was  only 
meant  to  point  to  something  better,  to  the  perfection  Jesus 
Christ  was  to  bring.  With  the  New  Testament  perfection 
would  come.     Thrice  the  word  is  used  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who 


188  zbe  fjolicst  of  mi 


in  Himself  prepared  and  wrought  out  the  perfection  He  came 
to  impart.  It  became  God  to  make  the  Leader  of  our 
salvation  perfect  through  suffering  (ii.  ii).  He  learned 
obedience,  and  being  made  perfect,  became  the  cause  of  sal- 
vation (v.  9).  Appointed  High  Priest;  a  Son  perfected  for 
evermore  (vii.  28).  The  perfection  brought  by  Christ  was  that 
which  was  revealed  in  His  own  personal  life.  He  came  to 
restore  to  us  the  life  of  God  we  had  lost — a  life  in  the  will  and 
love  of  God.  This  alone  is  salvation.  God  perfected  Him 
through  suffering  —  wrought  out  in  Him  a  perfect  human 
character,  in  which  the  divine  life  was  fully  united  with  the 
human  will.  He  learned  obedience  through  suffering,  and 
manifested  perfectly  the  humility  and  submission  and  surrender 
to  God,  which  is  man's  duty  and  blessedness.  So,  when  He 
had  been  perfected,  He  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation 
to  all  who  obey  Him,  because  He  now  had  that  perfected 
human  nature  which  He  could  communicate  to  them.  And  so 
He  was  appointed  High  Priest — a  Son,  perfected  for  evermore. 
As  Son  of  God,  He  was  to  take  us  up  into  the  very  life  of  God; 
as  High  Priest,  He  was  to  lift  us,  in  actual  spiritual  reality,  into 
God's  fellowship  and  will  and  presence  ;  the  way  in  which  He 
was  perfected  through  obedience  was  the  living  way  in  which 
He  was  to  lead  us  ; — as  the  Son,  perfected  through  obedience, 
who  had  found  and  opened  and  walked  the  path  of  obedience 
as  the  path  to  God,  and  would  animate  us  with  His  own  Spirit 
to  do  it  too.  He,  the  perfected  One,  can  alone  be  our  salvation. 
Then  twice  we  have  the  word  of  what  Christ  has  done  for  us. 
By  one  offering  He  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are 
sanctified  (x.  14) ;  the  Leader  and  Perfecter  of  our  faith  (xii.  2). 
Christ's  perfecting  us  for  ever  is  nothing  but  His  redeeming 
us  by  His  one  sacrifice  into  the  perfect  possession  of  Himself, 


^be  Ibollest  of  Bll  i89 


the  perfected  One,  as  our  life.  His  death  is  our  death  to  sin, 
His  resurrection  as  the  perfected  One  is  our  Hfe,  His  righteous- 
ness is  ours,  His  life  ours  ;  we  are  put  in  possession  of  all 
the  perfection  which  the  Father  wrought  out  in  Him 
through  suffering  and  obedience.  And  once  of  the  spiritual 
sanctuary  opened  by  Christ :  The  greater  and  more  perfect 
tabernacle  not  made  with  hands  (ix.  ii).  And  three  times  it 
is  used  in  regard  to  Christian  character  :  Solid  food  is  for  the 
perfect  (v.  14) ;  Let  us  press  on  to  perfection  (vi.  i) ;  The  God 
of  peace  perfect^  you  in  every  good  thing  (xiii.  21).  The 
perfect  for  whom  the  solid  food  is,  are  those  who  are  not 
content  with  the  mere  beginnings  of  the  Christian  life,  but 
have  given  themselves  wholly  to  accept  and  follow  the  per- 
fected Master.  These  are  they  who  press  on  to  perfection — 
nothing  else  than  the  perfection  which  Christ  revealed,  as 
God's  claim  on  men,  and  as  what  He  has  won  and  made 
possible  for  them. 

He  learned  obedience,  and  being  perfected,  became  the 
cause  of  eternal  salvation.  The  perfection  of  God  is  His  will. 
There  is  no  perfection  for  man  but  in  union  with  that  will.  And 
there  is  no  way  for  attaining  and  proving  the  union  with  that 
will  but  by  obedience.  Obedience  to  the  good  and  perfect  will 
of  God  transforms  the  whole  nature,  and  makes  it  capable  of 
union  with  Him  in  glory.  Obedience  to  God's  will  on  earth  is 
the  way  to  the  glory  of  God's  will  in  heaven.  The  everlasting 
perfection  of  heaven  is  nothing  but  the  obedience  of  earth  trans- 
figured and  glorified.  Obedience  is  the  seed,  the  power,  the  life 
of  Christ's  perfection  and  ours. 

We  are  approaching  the  threshold  of  the  Holiest  of  All,  as 
this  Epistle  is  to  open  it  up  to  us  as  the  sphere  of  the  heavenly 

^  In  the  Greek  here  the  word  used  is  not  the  same  as  in  the  other  passages. 


190  zrbe  fyoUeet  of  Bll 


priesthood  of  Him  who  was  made  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 
Ere  we  proceed  thither  let  us  learn  this  lesson  well  :  The 
distinguishing  mark  of  the  earthly  life  of  our  High  Priest  ;  the 
source  of  His  heavenly  glory  and  His  eternal  salvation  ;  the 
power  of  His  atonement  of  our  disobedience  ;  the  opening  of  the 
living  way  in  which  we  are  to  follow  Him  our  Leader ;  the  inner 
disposition  and  spirit  of  the  life  He  bestows ; — 0/  all  this,  the 
secret  is  obedience.  Through  obedience  He  was  perfected,  His 
sacrifice  was  perfect,  He  perfected  us  for  ever,  He  carries  us  on 
to  perfection. 

/.  When  the  perfect  heavenly  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  comes  down  from  heaven  into  our  hearts, 
it  can  assume  no  form  but  that  which  it  had  in  Him— obedience. 

2.  God  must  be  obeyed  :  in  that  one  word  you  have  the  hey  to  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus, 
His  sitting  at  God's  right  hand.  His  priesthood,  His  dwelling  in  our  hearts,  as  well  as  to  the  whole 
of  the  gospel  message,— God  must  be  obeyed. 

3.  Christ,  the  obedient  One,  who  inaugurated  for  us  the  new  way  of  obedience  unto  death  as 
the  way  to  God.  Is  this  the  Christ  thou  lovest  and  trusteth  ?  Is  this  thy  delight  in  Him,  that  He 
now  has  delivered  thee  from  thy  disobedience,  and  makes  thee  strong  to  live  only  to  obey  God  and 
Him  ?    Is  Christ  precious  to  thee  because  the  salvation  He  gives  is  a  restoration  to  obedience  ? 


Zbc  fboUeet  of  ail  i9i 


XLI. 

THE  HIGH  PRIEST  SAVING  THE  OBEDIENT. 

v.— 8.  Though  he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which 
he  suffered ; 

9.  And  having  been  made  perfect,  he  became  unto  all  them  that  obey 
him,  the  cause  of  eternal  salvation. 

The  deatJi  of  Jesus  has  its  value  and  efficacy  in  obedience,  ours  as 
well  as  His.  With  Him  obedience  was  God's  great  object  in 
His  suffering ;  the  root  and  power  of  His  perfection  and  His 
glory ;  the  real  efficient  cause  of  our  eternal  salvation.  And 
with  us,  the  necessity  of  obedience  is  no  less  absolute.  With 
God  and  with  Christ  our  restoration  to  obedience  was  the  great 
aim  of  redemption.  It  is  the  only  way  to  that  union  with  God 
in  which  our  happiness  consists.  Through  it  alone  God  can 
reveal  His  life  and  power  within  us.  Again  I  say :  The  death 
of  Jesus  has  its  value  and  efficacy  in  nothing  but  obedience, 
ours  as  well  as  His.  "He  learned  obedience,  and  being  per- 
fected became  to  all  them  that  obey  Him  the  cause  of  eternal 
salvation."  Our  obedience  is  as  indispensable  as  His.  As  little 
as  He  could  work  out  salvation  without  obedience,  can  we  enjoy 
it.  In  us  as  much  as  in  Him,  obedience  is  the  very  essence  of 
salvation. 

Let  us  try  and  grasp  this.     God  is   the  blessedness  of  the 
creature.     When  God  is  all  to  the  creature,  when  He  is  allowed 


192  ^be  fboliest  of  mi 


in  humility  and  dependence  to  work  all,  and  when  all  returns  to 
Him  in  thanksgiving  and  service,  nothing  can  prevent  the  fulness 
of  God's  love  and  joy  entering  and  filling  the  creature.  It  has 
but  one  thing  to  do — to  turn  its  desire  or  will  toward  God,  and 
give  Him  free  scope,  and  nothing  in  heaven  or  earth  can  prevent 
the  light  and  the  joy  of  God  filling  that  soul.  The  living  centre 
round  which  all  the  perfections  of  God  cluster,  the  living  energy 
through   which    they  all    do   their    work,  is    the    will    of  God. 

]  The  will  of  God  is  the  life  of  the  universe ;  it  is  what  it  is 
because  God  wills  it;  His  will  is  the  living  energy  which 
maintains  it  in  existence.  The  creature  can  have  no  more 
of  God  than  he  has  of  God's  will  working  in  him.  He 
that  would  meet  and  find  God  must  seek  Him  in  His  will  ; 
union  with  God's  will  is  union  with  Himself.  Therefore  it  was 
that  the  Lord  Jesus,  when  He  came  to  this  world,  always  spoke 
of  His  having  come  to  do  one  thing — the  will  of  His  Father. 
This  alone  could  work  our  salvation.  Sin  had  broken  us  away 
from  the  will  of  God.  In  doing  the  will  of  God  He  was  to 
break  the  power  of  sin.  He  was  to  prove  wherein  the  service  of 
God  and  true  blessedness  consist ;  He  was  to  work  out  in 
Himself  a  new  nature  to  be  communicated,  a  new  way  of  living 
to  be  followed  ;  He  was  to  show  that  the  doing  of  God's  will  at 
any  cost  is  blessedness  and  glory  everlasting.  It  was  because 
He  did  this,  because  He  was  obedient  unto  death,  that  God 
highly  exalted  Him.  It  was  this  disposition.  His  obedience, 
that  made  Him  worthy  and  fit  to  sit  with  God  on  the  throne  of 
heaven.     Union  with  the  will  of  God  is  union  with  God  Himself, 

\  and  must — it  cannot  be  otherwise — bring  to  the  glory  of  God. 
And  this  is  as  true  of  us  as  of  Him.     It  is  to  be  feared  that 
there   are   many   Christians   who  seek   salvation,   and   have   no 
conception  in  what  salvation  consists — a  being  saved  from  their 


Zbe  Ibolicst  of  ail  i9s 


own  will,  and  being  restored  to  do  the  will  of  God  alone.  They 
seek  after  Christ,  and  trust  in  Him  ;  but  it  is  not  the  true 
Christ,  but  a  Christ  of  whom  they  have  framed  their  own  image. 
The  true  Christ  is  the  incarnate  will  of  God,  the  incarnate 
obedience,  who  works  in  us  what  God  wrought  in  Him.  Christ 
came  as  the  Son,  to  impart  to  us  the  very  same  life  and  disposi- 
tion as  animated  Him  on  earth.  Christ  came  to  be  a  High 
Priest,  to  bring  us  to  God  in  that  very  same  way  of  obedience 
and  self-sacrifice  in  which  He  drew  nigh  to  God.  As  Son  and 
Priest,  Christ  is  our  Leader  and  Forerunner  ;  it  is  only  as  we 
follow  Him  in  His  path  on  earth  that  we  can  hope  to  share  His 
glory  in  heaven.  "  He  /earned  obedience  and  became  the  cause 
of  eternal  salvation  to  them  that  obey  Him." 

Let  us  beware  that  no  wrong  or  one-sided  views  of  what  salva- 
tion by  faith  means  lead  us  astray.  There  are  some  who  think 
that  salvation  by  faith  is  all,  and  obedience  not  so  essential.  This 
is  a  terrible  mistake.  In  our  justification  there  is  indeed  no 
thought  of  obedience  in  the  past.  God  justifieth  the  ungodly. 
But  repentance  is  a  return  to  obedience.  And  without  repent- 
ance there  can  be  no  true  faith.  Justification,  and  the  faith 
by  which  it  comes,  are  only  for  the  sake  of  obedience,  as 
means  to  an  end.  They  point  us  to  Christ,  and  the  salvation 
which  is  to  be  found  in  union  with  Him.  And  He  has  no 
salvation  but  for  them  that  obey  Him.  Obedience,  as  the 
acceptance  of  His  will  and  life,  is  our  only  capacity  for  salvation. 
This  is  the  reason  there  is  so  much  complaining  that  we  cannot 
find  and  do  not  enjoy  a  full  salvation.  We  seek  it  in  the  wrong 
way.  Jesus  Himself  said  that  the  Father  would  give  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  is,  salvation  as  it  is  perfected  in  Christ  in  heaven,  to 
them  that  obey  Him.  To  such  would  He  manifest  Himself; 
with  such  would  the  Father  and  He  dwell.  The  salvation  of 
13 


194  TTbc  Ibollcet  of  Sll 


Christ  was  wrouLjht  out  entircl}-  by  obedience;  this  is  its  very 
essence  and  nature ;  it  cannot  be  possessed  or  enjoyed  but  by 
obedience.  Christ,  who  was  perfected  by  obedience,  is  the 
cause  of  salvation  to  none  but  iJiein  that  obey  Hivi. 

God  grant  that  tiic  obedience  of  Jesus,  with  tlie  liumiHty  in 
which  it  roots,  ma)'  be  seen  of  us  to  be  the  crowning  beauty  of 
His  character,  the  true  power  of  His  redemption,  the  bond  of 
union  and  likeness  between  Him  and  His  followers,  the  true  and 
real  salvation,  in  the  salvation  He  gives  to  them  that  obey  Him. 

7.  Salvation  to  obedience.  Let  us  draw  ojf  our  eyes  and  desires  from  the  too  exclusive 
thought  of  salvation  as  happiness,  and  fix  them  more  upon  that  which  is  its  reality- 
obedience.    Christ  will  see  to  it  that  a  full  salvation  comes  to  the  obedient. 

2.  Let  no  wrong  thoughts  of  our  sinfulness  and  inability  secretly  keep  us  back  from  the 
surrender  to  entire  obedience.  We  are  made  partakers  of  Christ,  of  Himself,  with  the 
very  life  and  spirit  of  obedience  which  constitutes  Him  the  Saviour.  The  Son  of  God  came 
not  only  to  teach  and  to  claim,  but  to  glue  and  work  obedience.  Faith  in  this  Lord  Jesus 
may  claim  and  will  receive  the  grace  of  obedience,  will  receive  Himself. 

3.  Jesus  personally  learned  and  exercised  obedience ;  personally  He  communicates  it  in 
fellowship  with  Himself ;  it  becomes  a  personal  link  with  Himself  to  those  who  obey  Him. 


^be  ibollcst  of  mi  195 


THE    THIRD    WARNING. 

Chap.  V.  11— vi.  20. 

Against  Sloth,  Standing  Still,  and  Apostasy. 


XLII. 

OF  THE  SIN  OP  NOT  MAKING  PROGRESS  IN  THE 
CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

v.— 10.  Named  of  God  a  High  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 

11.  Of  whom  we  have  many  things  to  say,  and  hard  of  interpretation,  seeing 
ye  are  become  dull  of  hearing. 

12.  For  when  by  reason  of  the  time  ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need 
again  that  some  one  teach  you  the  rudiments  of  the  first  principles  ^  of  the  oracles 
of  God ;  and  are  become  such  as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not  of  solid  food. 

13.  For  every  one  that  partaketh  of  milk  is  without  experience  of  the  word 
of  righteousness ;  for  he  is  a  babe. 

We  have  here  the  commencement  of  the  third  of  the  five 
warnings  to  be  found  in  the  Epistle.  The  first  was  against  in- 
difference and  neglect  ;  the  second  against  unbelief  and  disobedi- 
ence ;  the  third  deals  specially  with  the  sloth  that  prevents  all 
progress  in  the  Christian  life,  renders  the  soul  incapable  of 
entering  into  the  full  meaning  of  gospel  truth  and  blessing, 
and  often  leads  to  an  entire  falling  away.  In  the  previous  part 
of  the  Epistle,  the  author  has  been  dealing  with  what  he  con- 

1  Beginning. 


190  Cbc  Iboliedt  ot  Bll 


siders  more  elementary  truths,  the  divinity  and  humanity  of  the 
Saviour,  and  His  fitness  as  a  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest  for 
the  work  He  has  to  do  for  us.  He  is  about  to  enter  on  the  higher 
teaching  he  has  to  give  us  on  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  Christ 
(vii.-x.  1 8),  but  feels  that  many  of  his  readers  are  incapable 
of  following  or  appreciating  such  spiritual  truth.  He  feels  it 
needful  first  to  rouse  them  by  words  of  earnest  reproof  and 
exhortation,  because  no  teaching  can  profit  where  the  heart  is 
not  wakened  up  to  hunger  for  it  as  its  necessary  food. 

In  the  Christian  Church,  there  are,  alas,  too  many,  of  whom 
we  would  fain  hope  that  they  are  believers,  who  are  living  in 
this  state.  They  are  content  with  the  thought  of  pardon  and 
the  hope  of  heaven  ;  they  rest  in  their  orthodoxy,  their  attach- 
ment to  the  Church  and  its  services,  their  correct  deportment. 
But  as  to  any  strong  desire  for  the  deeper  truths  of  God's  word 
— they  have  no  conception  of  what  is  meant,  or  why  they  should 
be  needed.  When  our  author  speaks  of  the  power  of  Jesus' 
blood  in  heaven,  of  the  opening  of  the  Holiest  of  All,  of  our 
entering  in  to  dwell  there,  and  then  of  our  going  out  to  Him 
without  the  camp,  the  words  find  no  response,  because  they  meet 
no  need  of  the  soul.  Let  every  reader  listen  earnestly  to  what 
God  says  of  this  state. 

We  have  many  things  to  say,  and  hard  of  interpretation, 
because  ye  are  become  dull  of  hearing-.  The  writer's  complaint 
is  not  that  they  have  not  sufficient  education  or  mental  power 
to  understand  what  he  says.  By  no  means.  But  spiritual  things 
must  be  spiritually  discerned.  Spiritual  truth  can  only  be 
received  by  the  spiritual  mind,  by  a  heart  that  thirsts  for  God, 
and  sacrifices  this  world  for  the  knowledge  and  enjoyment  of 
the  unseen  One.  They  were  content  with  their  knowledge  of 
the  crucified  Christ ;  the  heavenly  Christ,  and  His  power  to  draw 


^be  Ibolieet  of  Bll  i97 


them  up  out  of  the  world,  and  to  give  heaven  into  their  hearts, 
had  but  little  attraction. 

He  further  says,  By  reason  of  the  time  ye  ought  to  be 
teachers.  In  the  Christian  life  every  one  who  makes  real 
progress  feels  himself  constrained  to  teach  others.  Christ's  love 
in  the  heart  must  overflow  to  those  around.  The  Hebrews  had 
been  Christians  so  long  that  they  ought  to  have  been  teachers. 
The  very  opposite  of  this,  however,  was  the  case.  Ye  have  need 
again  that  some  one  teach  you  the  rudiments  of  the  beginning 
of  the  oracles  of  God.  So  there  are  numbers  of  Christians  whose 
Christian  life  consists  very  much  in  always  learning.  Sermons 
and  books  are  a  delight,  but  they  never  get  beyond  the  stage  of 
being  fed;  they  know  not  what  it  is  to  feed  others.  There 
is  no  effort  so  to  appropriate  God's  word,  as  to  be  strong  to 
impart  it  to  others.  Or  there  is  no  real  longing  for  deliverance 
from  the  power  of  sin,  and  the  great  incentive  to  the  fuller 
knowledge  of  Jesus  and  His  heavenly  power  is  wanting. 

And  ye  are  become  such  as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not  of 
solid  food.  W^here  there  is  no  hunger  for  the  solid  food  (the 
higher  truth  of  Christ's  heavenly  priesthood),  or  unwillingness  to 
use  what  is  received  in  helping  others,  the  spiritual  faculties  are 
dwarfed  and  enfeebled,  and  the  Christian  never  gets  beyond 
the  use  of  the  milk  meant  for  babes.  In  the  Christian  life,  as  in 
nature,  there  are  two  stages,  the  one  of  infancy  or  childhood,  the 
other  of  manhood.  In  nature  the  growth  out  of  the  one  into 
the  other  comes  spontaneously.  In  grace  this  is  not  so.  It  is 
possible  for  a  Christian  to  remain  in  a  sickly  infancy  all  his  life, 
always  needing  help,  instead  of  being  a  help.  The  cause  of  this 
is  sloth,  reluctance  to  make  the  sacrifice  needed  for  progress, 
unwillingness  to  forsake  all  and  follow  Jesus.  And  this  again 
is  very  much  owing  to  the  fatal  mistake  that  in  religion  our  only 


198  Zbc  Ibollcst  of  Hll 


thought  is  to  be  of  safety,  that  we  may  be  content  when  some 
assurance  of  that  is  attained.  Such  a  soul  cares  not  for  the 
heavenly  blessedness  of  conformity  to  Jesus,  of  living  fellowship 
with  God,  and  the  Godlike  privilege  of  bringing  life  and  blessing 
to  men. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  needs  of  the  teachers  in  the  Church  in 
our  day  that  they  should  have  a  clear  insight  into  the  feeble  and 
sickly  state  in  which  most  Christians  live,  as  well  as  into  what 
constitutes  a  healthy  life  that  goes  on  to  perfection.  As  they 
themselves  enter  into  the  full  experience  of  the  power  of 
Christ's  priesthood,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  imparts  it  in  the  heart, 
they  will  be  able  to  reprove  with  authority,  and  effectually  to 
help  all  upright  souls  into  the  full  salvation  Christ  has  pro- 
vided.    God  give  His  Church  such  teachers. 

J.  Have  we  not  here  the  reason  there  is  so  little  earnest  pursuit  after  holiness  ?  so  little 
true  consecration  to  living  to  bless  others  ?  so  little  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  life  of 
the  Church  ?  Let  us  plead  with  God  to  discover  the  evil  and  to  visit  His  Church.  Let  us  exhort  one 
another  daily,  to  rest  content  with  nothing' less  than  a  whole-hearted  enthusiastic  devotion  to  Jesus. 

2.  In  preparing  to  go  on  to  the  study  of  the  inner  sanctuary  in  il'hat  is  to  follow  (vii.-x.),  do  let 
us  consider  it  a  settled  thing,  that  unless  we  are  really  hungering  after  righteousness,  and  longing 
for  a  very  close  fellowship  with  Jesus,  our  further  study  of  the  Epistle  will  do  us  very  little  good. 
Let  us  pray  God  to  convince  us  of  our  sloth,  our  contentment  with  the  beginnings  of  grace,  and  to 
stir  in  us  a  burning  thirst  after  Himself. 


<rbe  IboUest  of  ail  199 


XLIII. 

SOLID  FOOD  IFOR  THE  PERFECT. 

v.— 13.  For  every  one  that  partaketh  of  milk  is  without  experience  of  the 
word  of  righteousness ;  for  he  is  a  babe. 

14.  But  solid  foodjis  for  perfect  men,  even  those  who  by  reason  of  use  have 
their  senses  exercised  to  discern  good  and  evil. 

We  have  here  the  contrast  between  the  two  stages  in  the  Chris- 
tian Hfe,  Of  the  first  we  have  already  spoken.  The  second  stage 
is  that  of  manhood — the  full-grown,  mature,  perfect  man.  This 
does  not,  as  in  nature,  come  with  years,  but  consists  in  the 
whole-heartedness  with  which  the  believer  yields  himself  to  be 
all  for  God.  It  is  the  perfect  heart  makes  the  perfect  man. 
The  twenty  years  needed  for  a  child  to  become  a  full-grown 
man  are  no  rule  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  There  is  indeed 
a  riper  maturity  and  a  mellowness  which  comes  with  the 
experience  of  years.  But  even  a  young  Christian  can  be  of 
the  perfect  of  whom  our  Epistle  speaks,  with  a  heart  all  athirst 
for  the  deeper  and  more  spiritual  truth  it  is  to  teach,  and  a  will 
that  has  indeed  finally  broken  with  sin,  and  counted  all  things 
loss  for  the  perfect  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus. 

The  contrast  is  expressed  in  the  words :  The  babe  is  with- 
out experience  of  the  word  of  righteousness.  He  has  not 
yielded  himself  to  the  discipline  which  the  word  demands  and 
brings  ;  he  has  not,  in  the  struggle  of  practical  obedience,  had 
experience  of  what  the  word  can  do  to  search  and  cleanse,  to 


200  Zbc  tjouest  of  ail 


strengthen  and  bless.  Mis  religious  life  has  been,  as  with  a 
babe,  the  enjoyment  of  being  fed.  He  is  without  real  ex- 
perience of  the  word  of  righteousness. 

With  the  perfect,  the  full-grown  men,  it  is  the  very  opposite: 
by  reason  of  use  they  have  their  senses  exercised  to  discern 
good  and  evil.  Just  as  in  nature  the  use  of  the  limbs,  with 
plenty  of  exercise  for  every  sense  and  organ,  is  one  of  the 
surest  conditions  of  a  healthy  growth,  so  with  the  Christian 
too.  It  is  when  the  faculties  God  gives  us  in  the  spiritual  life 
are  put  to  the  use  He  meant  them  for,  and  our  spiritual  senses 
are  kept  in  full  exercise,  that  we  pass  from  feeble  infancy  to 
maturity.  This  exercise  of  the  senses  has  special  reference  to 
that  which  we  have  been  saved  to — a  life  of  obedience  and 
holiness  ;  it  is  to  discern  good  and  evil.  The  eye  is  exercised 
to  see  and  know  God's  way  and  Him  who  leads  in  it ;  the  ear 
to  hear  His  voice  ;  the  conscience  to  reject  everything  that  is 
not  well  pleasing  to  God  or  even  doubtful  ;  the  will  to  choose 
and  do  only  what  is  His  will. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  that  we  should  note  this 
well.  The  capacity  for  entering  into  the  deeper  truths  to  be 
unfolded  does  not  depend  on  talent  or  study,  on  sagacity  or 
genius,  but  ^;/  f/u'  teriderncss  with  ivJiicJi  the  soul  has  exercised 
itself  in  daily  life  in  discerning  good  and  evil.  The  redeinption 
in  Christ  is  to  save"  us  from  sin,  and  bring  us  back  to  the 
perfect  obedience  and  unhindered  fellowship  with  God.  It  is 
as  the  desire  not  to  sin  becomes  more  intense  ;  and  the  accept- 
ance of  Jesus  as  an  indwelling  deliverer  from  sin  more  entire  ; 
and  the  surrender  to  the  operation  of  God  in  working  His  will 
in  us  more  complete ;  that  the  spiritual  teaching  of  our  Epistle 
will  be  appreciated.  //  is  a  holy  sensitiveness  to  the  least  sin, 
arising  from  the  fait  Jiful  use  and  exercise  of  the  senses  as  far  as 


Zbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll  201 


l/iere  zvas  light,  that  is  the  spiritual  sense  or  organ  for  spiritual  \ 
truth,  tlie  mark  of  the  perfect  man.     In  the  things  of  God   a' 
tender  conscience  and  a  surrendered  will   are  more   than    the 
highest  intellect. 

Such  are  the  perfect.  The  word  means  here  just  what  it 
meant  when  used  of  Jesus  a  few  verses  previously.  His  per- 
fection came  through  obedience.  Ours  comes  in  no  other  way 
— the  exercise  of  the  senses  to  discern  good  and  evil.  In 
temptations  Jesus  Himself  was  exercised  to  discern  between 
good  and  evil  :  in  the  wilderness  and  the  garden  He  had  to 
fast  and  watch  and  pray,  lest  the  lawful  desire  of  His  human 
nature  might  lead  to  sin  :  thus  He  was  perfected.  And  this  is 
Christian  perfection — the  fellowship  with  Christ,  through  the 
indwelling  Spirit,  in  His  obedience. 

Solid  food  is  for  the  perfect.  And  what  is  this  solid  food  ? 
The  context  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  answer.  It  is  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  as  Melchizedek,  as  it  is  now  to  be  ex- 
pounded. To  know  Christ  as  Aaron,  to  believe  in  His  atone- 
ment on  earth,  and  in  pardon  through  His  blood,  this  is  often 
found  with  Christians  who  are  content  to  remain  mere  babes, 
entirely  slothful  and  stationary.  But  to  know  Christ  as 
Melchizedek  in  His  heavenly  priesthood,  working  in  us  in  the 
power  of  an  endless  life ;  as  a  Saviour  able  to  save  completely  ; 
as  the  minister  of  the  sanctuary,  who  has  opened  the  Holiest 
of  All,  and  brings  us  in  to  dwell  there  ;  as  the  Mediator  of  the 
new  covenant,  who  does  actually  fulfil  its  promise  and  write 
God's  law  in  living  power  in  our  heart  ; — this  is  the  solid  food 
for  the  perfect.  The  teaching  in  the  word  is  open  and  free  to 
all,  but  only  those  who  have  given  themselves  to  be  perfect, 
feel  the  need  and  hunger  for  it — only  they  are  capable  of 
receiving  and    assimilating    it  ;    because   it    is    only   they   who 


202  zbe  -toolicst  of  HU 


have  in  \ery  deed  determined  to  rest  content  with  nothing  less 
than  all  Christ  can  do  for  them,  and  to  count  all  things  loss  for 
the  possession  of  this  pearl  of  great  price.  All  the  outward 
teaching  and  knowledge  of  the  words  of  the  prophets  and  of 
Christ  must  give  way  to  the  inward  speaking  of  Christ  in  the 
soul  b\'  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  to  souls  who  break  through  the 
husk,  and  hunger  to  feed  on  the  kernel,  on  the  very  life  of  God 
in  Christ,  who  will  become  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus. 

7.  These  Hebrew  Chrislinns  are  reproved  fur  not  being  perfect.  It  is  not  left  to  their  choice 
whether  they  are  to  be  eminent  Christians.  God  expects  each  child  of  His  to  be  as  eminent  in 
grace  and  piety  as  it  is  possible  for  Christ  to  make  him. 

2.  Till  we  all  attain  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ :  this  ought  to  be  our  aim.  The  motive  and  the  power  to  seek  this  we  have  in  our 
Lord  Jesus. 

3.  Let  nothing  satisfy  us  but  living  wholly  for  Christ ;  He  is  worthy. 


Zbc  fbolicet  of  Bll  203 


XLIV. 

LET  US  PRESS  ON  TO  PERFECTION. 

VI.— 1.  Wherefore  let  us  cease  to  speak  of  the  first  principles '  of  Christ, 
and  press  on  unto  perfection;  not  laying  again  a  foundation  of  repentance 
from  dead  works,  and  of  faith  toward  God. 

2.  Of  the  teaching  of  baptisms,  and  of  laying  on  of  hands,  and  of  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  and  of  eternal  judgment. 

3.  And  this  will  we  do,  if  God  permit. 

We  have  seen  how  among  the  Hebrews  there  were  two  classes 
of  Christians.  They  are  to  be  found  in  every  Christian  Church 
— some  who,  instead  of  growing  up  to  be  teachers  and  helpers 
of  others,  always  remain  babes,  and  have  need  that  some  one 
again  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  the  beginning  of  the  oracles 
of  God.  Others  who  are  perfect  or  fully-grown  men,  who  have 
had  their  spiritual  senses  exercised  in  discerning  good  and  evil, 
and  are  able  to  receive  the  solid  food  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
perfection  of  Christ  and  His  work.  Let  us  listen  as  the  word 
calls  us  to  come  out  of  all  sloth  and  feebleness,  and  to  press  on 
to  the  perfection  Christ  has  come  to  reveal. 

First  we  hear  what  it  is  we  are  to  give  up.  Let  US  leave  the 
word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ.  In  chap.  iii.  14  we  were 
urged  to  hold  fast  the  beginning  firm  unto  the  end.  These 
two  expressions  are  not  at  variance.  The  beginning  is  the  seed 
or  first  principle  out  of  which  the  farther  life  must  grow  and 
expand  into  perfection.     This  beginning,  as  the  root  of  all  that 

1  Leave  the  word  of  the  beginning. 


204  ^be  tyoUe&t  ot  au 


is  to  come,  must  be  held  fast  to  the  very  eiitl.  But  the  beginning, 
as  bcingonly  a  commencement  of  something  better,  must  be  left. 
It  is  a  terrible  misunderstanding  of  the  words,  "  Hold  fast  what 
thou  hast,"  to  imagine  that  we  simply  need  to  preserve  what  we 
already  have.  By  no  means.  We  must  reali.se  that  the  know- 
ledge of  Christ  and  the  measure  of  grace  we  receive  at  conversion 
cannot  suffice  for  our  farther  life.  VV'e  need  each  day  to  learn 
more  of  Christ,  to  make  new  advances  in  obedience,  to  gain  larger 
experience  of  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life.  There  can  be  no 
healthy  life  without  growth  and  progress.  We  must  leave  the 
word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ. 

Not  laying  again  the  foundation.  A  builder,  when  he  has 
laid  his  foundation,  leaves  working  at  it  anj-  more,  and  builds 
upon  it.  There  are  Christians  who  never  get  beyond  the 
foundation,  who  never  know  what  the  house  is  for  the  sake  of 
which  alone  the  foundation  is ;  what  it  is  to  be  an  habitation  of 
God  through  the  Spirit,  and  to  dwell  in  the  love  and  the  power 
of  God.  The  writer  mentions,  in  three  pairs.  si.\  points  which 
belong  to  the  foundation  truths,  in  which  the  young  beginner 
has  to  be  instructed.  Repentance  from  dead  works  and  faith 
towards  God :  these  are  in  very  deed  only  the  rudiments  of  the 
word  of  Christ.  Then  follow  two  points  that  have  reference  to 
the  public  confession  of  faith  and  the  connection  with  the 
Church :  the  teaching  of  baptism  and  of  the  laying  on  of 
hands.  And  then  two  more,  that  relate  to  the  future  life : 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  eternal  judgment.  Without 
these  elementary  truths  one  could  hardly  be  a  Christian  :  but 
the  man  who  rests  content  with  them,  and  cares  not  to  know 
more,  cannot  be  a  Christian  as  God  would  have  him.  has 
reason  to  doubt  whether  he  be  a  Christian  at  all. 

Wherefore,  let  us  leave  the  word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ, 


XLbe  "Iboliest  of  mi  205 


and  press  on  unto  perfection.  It  is  not  difficult  to  know  what 
perfection  here  means.  Perfect  is  that  which  corresponds  to  its 
ideal,  which  is  as  it  should  be,  which  answers  to  what  its  maker 
intended.  No  parent  is  content  that  his  child  should  remain  a 
babe  ;  he  educates  it  to  be  a  full-grown  man.  God  has  set 
before  us  in  His  word  the  life  He  actually  means  us  to  live,  and 
He  calls  every  true  child  of  His  to  leave  the  beginnings,  and 
press  on  to  perfection,  to  press  on  to  be  all  that  He  has  pro- 
mised to  make  us.  More  God  would  not  have  us  .seek  ;  with 
less,  we  dare  not  be  content,  lest  we  deceive  ourselves. 

In  Christ  Jesus,  and  His  life  on  earth,  we  have  the  embodi- 
ment of  that  perfection,  as  it  consists  in  a  life  given  up  to 
obedience  to  God's  will  ;  the  proof  that  it  is  possible  for  a 
true  man  to  live  a  life  that  is  well-pleasing  to  the  Father ; 
the  promise  that  from  His  throne  in  heaven  He  will  now 
impart  and  work  in  us.  In  suffering  He  yielded  Himself 
to  God  to  perfect  Hivi.  In  suffering  He  learned  obedience, 
and  ivas  made  perfect,  thereby  to  be  the  cause  of  eternal 
salvation  to  us.  He  is  now,  as  the  Son  perfected  for  ever- 
more, our  High  Priest,  in  heaven  working  in  us,  in  the  power  of 
the  heavenly  life,  that  perfection,  through  which  as  our  Leader 
He  opened  the  path  to  glory.  Our  perfection  can  be  none 
other  than  Christ's :  His  perfection  our  model.  His  perfection 
our  life  and  strength.  God  desires  and  can  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  in  us  but  what  He  sees  of  His  beloved  Son,  and  His 
perfection  through  suffering  and  obedience. 

Wherefore,  let  us  leave  the  word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ, 
and  press  on  to  perfection.  And  this  will  we  do  if  God  permit. 
As  if  he  says,  The  following  chapters  are  to  be  the  teaching  of 
Christian  perfection.  We  will  with  you  press  on,  and  help  you 
on,   by  giving  the  solid   food  which    is    the   nourishment    and 


206  XTbe  IboUcdt  of  BlI 


strength  of  the  perfect :  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  Christ,  in 
the  power  of  an  endless  life.  His  glory  and  power  as  mediator 
of  the  new  covenant,  writing  God's  law  into  our  very  heart,  the 
infinite  efficacy  of  the  blood  as  opening  the  Holiest  of  All  to  us, 
and  cleansing  us  to  enter  in  and  serve  the  living  God, — these 
and  such  like  truths,  revealing  the  perfection  that  Christ  attained 
in  His  human  life,  and  into  which  He  lifts  us  in  His  divine 
power,  these  constitute  the  solid  food  for  the  perfect.  The  per- 
fection of  Christ,  as  truth  revealed,  becomes  the  perfection  of 
the  believer,  as  a  life  experienced,  in  those  who  count  all  things 
loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Him  our  Lord. 

/.  Let  us  hold  fast  the  distinction  between  foundation  doctrine  and  perfection  doctrine. 
There  are  truths  of  the  beginning  of  Christ,  which  we  have  had  in  the  first  half  of  the  Epistle— 
His  divinity  and  humanity,  His  substitution,  tasting  death,  for  all,  and  His  entering  into  heauen, 
as  far  as  that  was  typified  by  Aaron.  In  the  second  half  we  have  what  is  needed  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Christian  life  ;  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life  as  it  is  secured  in  the  heavenly  priest- 
hood and  the  heavenly  sanctuary.     Wherefore,  let  us  press  on  to  perfection. 

2.  Let  us  press  on  to  perfection.  Do  take  this  as  a  distinct  injunction  of  the  God  who 
speahs  to  us  in  His  Son.  Hear  His  voice,  rest  not  content  with  the  beginnings —press  on— unto 
perfection,  unto  the  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. 

3.  Compare  Paul  (Phil.  Hi.  13-15) :  I  press  on,  (/  so  be  I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  I  also 
was  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus.  Forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind,  I  press  on  toward  the 
goal.     Let  us,  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,  be  thus  minded.     Let  us  press  on  to  perfection. 


Zbc  IboUest  of  au  207 


XLV. 

THE  DANGER  OF  FALLING  AWAY. 

VI.— 4.  For  as  touching  those  who  were  once  enlightened,  and  tasted  of 
the  heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 

5.  And  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the  age  to  come, 
and  then  fell  away, 

6.  It  is  impossible  to  renew  them  again  unto  repentance;  seeing  they 
crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  him  to  an  open  shame. 

7.  For  the  land  which  hath  drunk  the  rain  that  cometli  oft  upon  it,  and 
bringeth  forth  herbs  meet  for  them  for  whose  sake  it  Is  also  tilled,  receiveth 
blessing  from  God : 

8.  But  if  it  beareth  thorns  and  thistles,  it  is  rejected  and  nigh  unto  a  curse ; 
whose  end  is  to  be  burned. 

Let  us  press  on  to  perfection.  For  as  touching-  those  who 
were  once  enlightened,  and  fall  away,  it  is  impossible  to 
renew  them  again.  The  argument  is  one  of  unspeakable 
solemnity.  It  is  in  the  Christian  life  as  with  all  progress  amid 
difficulties.  In  commerce,  in  study,  in  war,  it  is  so  often  said  : 
there  is  no  safety  but  in  advance.  To  stand  still  is  to  go  back. 
To  cease  effort  is  to  lose  ground.  To  slacken  the  pace,  before 
the  goal  is  reached,  is  to  lose  the  race.  The  only  sure  mark 
of  our  being  true  Christians,  of  our  really  loving  Christ,  is  the 
deep  longing  and  the  steady  effort  to  know  more  of  Him. 
Tens  of  thousands  have  proved  that  to  be  content  with  begin- 
ning well  is  but  the  first  step  on  a  backward  course,  that  ends 
in  losing  all.  The  whole  point  of  the  argument  from  the  case 
of  those  who  fall  away  is — Let  us  press  on  to  perfection. 


208  Zbc  fjolicst  ot  ail 


To  realise  its  force  we  must  specially  note  two  things  with 
regard  to  those  who  fall  away :  the  height  which  they  may 
have  attained,  and  the  irrecoverable  depth  into  which  they 
sink.  As  to  the  former,  five  expressions  are  used.  They  were 
once  enlightened;  tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift;  were  made 
partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  tasted  the  good  word  of  God ; 
and  the  powers  of  the  age  to  come.  As  to  the  latter,  we 
are  told  :  Seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God 
afresh,  and  put  Him  to  an  open  shame:  it  is  impossible  to 
renew  them  again  unto  repentance. 

The  question  which  always  at  once  suggests  itself  here  has 
reference  to  the  Scripture  truth  of  the  perseverance  of  the 
saints,  in  which  so  many  saints  of  God  have  found  their 
strength  and  their  joy.  Our  Lord  Jesus  spake  of  His  sheep 
(John  X.  28) :  "  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall 
never  perish,  and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out  of  my  hand. 
My  Father,  which  hath  given  them  unto  me,  is  greater  than  all  ; 
and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  the  Father's  hand." 
Where  He  gives  the  eternal  life  to  a  soul,  it  is  a  life  that  cannot 
be  lost. 

This  is  the  divine  side  of  the  truth.  Every  truth  has  two 
sides.  The  only  way  to  apprehend  the  truth  fully  is  to  look  at 
each  side  as  if  it  were  the  whole,  and  yield  ourselves  to  its  full 
force.  There  is  a  human  side  too.  Scripture  speaks  most 
solemn  words  of  warning  in  regard  to  the  possibility  of  receiv- 
ing the  grace  of  God  in  vain,  of  beginning  well,  and  then  falling 
away  from  grace  (2  Cor.  vi.  i.  Gal.  v.  4).  Our  Lord  spoke 
more  than  once  of  the  man  who  receives  the  word  with  joy, 
but  had  no  root  in  himself:  he  only  believes  for  a  while.  In  a 
time  of  revival,  of  mighty  spiritual  influences,  as  in  Corinth  and 
Galatia,    many    were    mightily   affected    and    even    manifestly 


iLbe  IboUest  of  Bll  209 


changed,  who  in  after  times  proved  that  they  never  had 
been  truly  born  again  ;  they  had  not  received  eternal  life.  It  is 
of  such  our  text  speaks.  It  is  possible  to  have  the  emotions 
touched  and  the  will  affected  without  the  heart  being  truly 
renewed.  The  gifts  of  the  Spirit  may  be  received  without  His 
graces.  The  joy  of  light  in  the  mind  may  be  mistaken  for  life 
in  the  soul.  And  so  some,  who  were  counted  true  believers 
by  man,  may  fall  away  beyond  hope  of  renewal. 

And  how,  then,  are  we  to  know  who  truly  have  received  eternal 
life  ?  and  what  is  the  mark  of  its  being  no  mere  superficial  or  tem- 
porary change  ?  TJiere  is  no  mark  by  ivhich  man  can  decide.  The 
only  sure  sign  that  the  perseverance  of  the  saints  will  be  ours  is 
— perseverance  in  sainthood,  in  sanctification  and  obedience. 
We  are  His  house,  we  are  become  partakers  of  Christ,  if  we 
hold  fast,  firm  unto  the  end.  My  assurance  of  salvation  is  not 
something  I  can  carry  with  me  as  a  railway  ticket  or  a  bank 
note,  to  be  used,  as  occasion  calls.  No,  God's  seal  to  my  soul 
is  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  it  is  in  a  life  in  the  Spirit  that  my  safety 
lies  ;  it  is  when  I  am  led  by  the  Spirit  that  the  Spirit  bears 
witness  with  my  spirit,  and  that  I  can  cry  Abba,  Father 
(Rom.  viii.  14-16).  Jesus  not  only  gives,  but  is  Himself  our 
life.  My  assurance  of  salvation  is  alone  to  be  fou7id  in  the  living 
fellowship  zvith  the  living  Jesus  in  love  and  obedience. 

This  is  what  we  see  in  vers.  7  and  8.  The  land  which  hath 
drunk  the  rain,  and  bringeth  forth  herbs,  receiveth  blessing 
from  God:  if  it  beareth  thorns,  it  is  rejected.  The  soul  that 
is  content  with  drinking  in  the  rain,  and  only  seeks  its  own 
happiness,  without  bearing  fruit,  has  every  reason  to  fear.  It 
is  in  growth  and  fruitfulness,  in  the  exercising  the  senses  to 
discern  good  and  evil,  in  pressing  on  to  perfection,  in  following 
our  Forerunner  in  the  path  in  which  He  was  perfected,  by 
14 


210  zbe  Iboliest  of  ail 


obedience  to  God's  will,  that  wc  know  that  we  have  eternal 
life. 

The  word  of  God  is  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword. 

Let  each  one  of  us  yield  to  its  searching  power.  Anything 
like  sloth,  and  resting  content  in  our  beginnings,  is  unspeakably 
dangerous.  Nothing  will  do  but  to  give  more  abundant  heed 
—to  give  diligence  to  enter  into  the  rest,  and  with  our 
whole  heart  to  press  on  unto  perfection. 

7.  Self-deception  is  a  solemn  possibility.  Our  only  safeguard  is  God,  the  surrender  to  His 
searching  light,  the  trust  in  His  faitlifulness.  the  giving  up  to  His  will.  At  the  footstool  of 
the  throne  no  soul  can  perish. 

2.  To  press  on  unto  perfection  is  a  command  not  meant  for  a  select  few,  but  for  all, 
and  specially  the  bachward  and  feeble  ones.  Beware  of  any  suggestion  that  would  mahe  you 
evade  the  force  of  this  command  and  immediate  obedience  to  it.  Let  your  'only  answer  be- 
Yea,  Lord.  Open  your  eyes  and  heart  to  the  state  of  all  around  you,  who  are  slothful  and  at 
ease,  lagging  behind,  and  help  them.     By  reason  of  the  time  ye  ought  to  be  teachers. 


JTbe  Ibollest  of  Bll  211 


XLVI. 

OF   DILIGENCE    AND   PERSEVERANCE. 

VI.— 9.  But,  beloved,  we  are  persuaded  better  tilings  of  you,  and  things 
that  accompany  salvation,  though  we  thus  speak : 

10.  For  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  yom-  work,  and  the  love  which 
ye  showed  toward  his  name,  in  that  ye  ministered  to  the  saints,  and  still  do 
minister. 

11.  And  we  desire  that  each  of  you  may  show  the  same  diligence  unto  the 
fulness  of  hope  even  to  the  end : 

12.  That  ye  be  not  sluggish,  but  imitators  of  them  who  through  faith  and 
patience!  inherit  the  promises. 

In  every  Christian  community  you  have  two  classes.  There 
are  some  who  give  themselves  up  with  their  whole  heart  to  .seek 
and  serve  God.  There  are  others,  too  often  the  majority,  who, 
like  Israel,  are  content  with  deliverance  from  Egypt,  and  settle 
down  in  sloth,  without  striving  for  the  full  possession  of  the 
promise,  the  rest  in  the  promised  land.  In  speaking  to  such  a 
Church,  one  might  address  the  two  classes  separately.  Or  one 
might  address  the  whole  body  now  from  one,  then  from  the  other 
of  the  two  standpoints.  This  is  what  the  Epistle  does.  In  its 
warning  it  speaks  to  all  as  if  all  were  in  danger.  In  its  exhorta- 
tion and  encouragement  it  speaks  as  if  all  shared  the  sentiments 
of  the  better  half 

But,  beloved,  we  are  persuaded  better  things  of  you,  and 
things  that  accompany  salvation,  though  we  thus  speak  of 

^  Longsuffering. 


212  Uhe  IboUcst  of  BU 


fallini;  away,  aiul  the  impossibility  of  renewal.  We  have  the 
hope  that  our  word  of  warning  will  bear  fruit,  and  that  b}-  the 
grace  of  God,  which  has  already  wrought  in  you,  \ou  will 
be  stirred  to  rise  up  out  of  all  sloth  and  unbelief  and  press 
forward.     We  look  to  God  Himself  to  perfect  His  work  in  you. 

For  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work  and  the 
love  which  ye  showed  toward  His  name,  in  that  ye  ministered 
to  the  saints,  and  still  do  minister.  If  there  was  much  in  the 
present  state  to  make  him  anxious,  the  writer  encourages  him- 
self and  them  by  pointing  to  the  past.  When  the  gospel  was 
preached  among  them  they  had  received  Christ's  messengers  with 
joy,  and  stood  by  them  in  sharing  reproach  and  spoiling  for  His 
name.  Even  now  still  there  was  among  them  a  love  towards 
God's  people.  And  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  what  has 
been  done  for  His  name  and  people  ;  the  reward  of  the  cup 
of  cold  water  may  be  remembered  by  God  even  when  the  giver 
has  grown  cold,  and  may  come  in  the  blessing  that  restores  him 
again.  God  does  not  only  remember  sin ;  He  much  rather 
remembers  the  work  of  lo\e. 

And  we  desire  that  each  one  of  you  may  show  the  same 
diligence  unto  the  fulness  of  hope  even  unto  the  end.  In  all 
worldly  business  diligence  is  the  secret  of  success.  VV'ithout 
attention  and  trouble  and  heart)'  effort  we  cannot  expect  our 
work  to  prosper.  And  yet  there  are  many  Christians  who 
imagine  that  in  the  Christian  life  things  will  come  right  of 
themselves.  When  they  arc  told  that  Jesus  undertakes  to  do 
all,  they  count  this  as  a  pass  to  a  life  of  ease.  Verily  no.  Jesus 
will  indeed  do  all  ;  but  he  undertakes  it,  just  to  inspire  us  with 
His  own  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  the  heather's  will. 
His  own  readiness  to  forsake  all  ease  and  comfort  to  please  God 
and  man.  His  own  unwearying  diligence  in  working  while  it  was 


Zbe  fboUcst  of  ail  213 


day.  And  so  our  writer  urges  his  readers  to  show  the  same 
diligence  they  had  formerly  manifested,  unto  the  fulness  of  the 
hope  to  the  very  end. 

We  have  here  the  same  three  words  we  had  in  the  second 
warning.  There  we  read,  "  Let  us  give  diligence  to  enter  into 
that  rest  "  fiv.  11).  "If  we  hold  fast  the  glorying  of  our  hope  firm 
to  the  end  (iii.  6).  "If  we  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  our  con- 
fidence firm  to  the  end."  The  great  marks  of  Christian  perse- 
verance are  here  once  again  joined  together.  Hope  looks 
forward  and  lives  in  the  promises  ;  it  glories  beforehand  in  the 
certainty  of  their  fulfilment.  Bright  hopefulness  is  one  of  the 
elements  of  a  healthy  Christian  life — one  of  the  surest  preserva- 
tives against  backsliding.  This  hopefulness  must  be  cultivated  ; 
diligence  must  be  given  unto  the  fulness  of  hope — a  hope  that 
embraces  all  the  fulness  of  God's  promises,  and  that  fills  all 
the  heart.  And  all  this  to  the  end,  with  a  patience  and  perse- 
verance that  knows  no  weariness,  that  waits  God's  time,  and 
seeks  in  patience  till  the  fulfilment  has  come. 

That  ye  be  not  slothful.  This  is  what  had  done  so  much 
harm — they  had  been  slothful  in  hearing  (v.  11).  This  is  the 
danger  that  still  threatens.  But  be  imitators  of  them  who 
through  faith  and  longsuffering  inherit  the  promises.  The 
writer  had  spoken  in  warning  of  the  example  of  the  fathers  in 
the  wilderness  ;  he  here  encourages  them  by  reminding  them  of 
those  who  through  faith  and  longsuffering  had  inherited  the 
promises.  Longsuffering  is  the  perseverance  of  faith.  Faith 
grasps  at  once  all  that  God  promises,  but  is  in  danger  of  relax- 
ing its  hold.  Longsuffering  comes  to  tell  how  faith  needs  daily 
to  be  renewed,  and  strengthens  the  soul,  even  when  the  promise 
tarries,  still  to  hold  fast  firm  unto  the  end.  This  is  one  of  the 
great  practical  lessons  of  our  Epistle,  and  one  the  young  believer 


214  trbe  •fooUeet  of  ail 


specially  needs.  Conversion  is  but  a  beginning,  a  step,  an 
entrance  on  a  path  ;  day  by  day  its  surrender  must  be  renewed  ; 
every  day  faith  must  afresh  accept  Christ,  and  find  its  strength 
in  Him.  Through  faith  and  longsuffering  we  inherit,  enter  on 
the  possession  of  the  promises.  Salvation  consists  in  what 
Christ  Jesus  is  to  us  and  does  in  us.  There  must,  each  day,  be 
personal  intercourse  with  Ilim,  distinct  personal  surrender  to 
His  teaching  and  working,  if  He  is  indeed  to  be  our  life.  Let 
us  beware,  above  everything,  of  unconsciously  resting  or  trusting 
in  what  we  have  or  enjoy  of  grace.  It  is  alone  by  faith  and 
longsuffering,  by  the  never-ceasing  daily  renewal  of  our  con- 
secration and  our  faith  in  our  quiet  time  with  our  Beloved  Lord, 
that  the  heavenly  life  can  be  maintained  in  its  freshness  and 
power. 

1.  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work.  How  often  God  spohe  to  Israel  of  its  first 
love.  What  an  encouragement  to  any  who  have  grown  cold  to  return  and  trust  Him  to  restore 
them.     God  cannot  forget  what  has  passed  between  thee  and  Him. 

2.  That  ye  be  not  slothful,  not  for  a  single  day.  We  may  lose  in  an  hour  by  unwatchfulness 
what  we  have  gained  in  a  year.  Christ  and  His  service  ash  for  your  undivided,  unceasing 
attention. 

3.  Let  not  God's  way  appear  too  slow  or  too  difficult.  Let  patience  have  its  perfect  work.  As 
the  husbandman  has  long  patience  with  the  seed,  God  is  patient  with  you.  Be  patient  with  Him. 
Just  remember  this  simple  lesson.  Day  by  day  renew  your  surrender  to  Jesus,  and  your  faith  in 
Him— your  hope  in  God.    Faith  and  patience  must  inherit  the  promises. 


Zbe  Dolicst  of  mi  215 


XLVII. 

INHERITING  THE  PROMISE. 

VI.— 13.  For  when  God  made  promise  to  Abraham,  since  he  could  sware 
by  none  greater,  he  sware  by  himself, 

14.  Saying,   Surely  blessing   I   will  bless    thee,   and   multiplying   I    will 
multiply  thee. 

15.  And  thus,  having  patiently  endured,^  he  obtained,  the  promise. 

The  Epistle  is  dealing  with  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  in  the 
spiritual  life.  All  experience  amply  confirms  what  was  seen  in 
the  first  Christian  churches,  that  many  who  began  well  stood 
still  and  then  turned  back.  The  Christian  life  is  a  race :  to 
begin  profits  nothing  unless  we  run  to  the  end  and  reach  the 
goal.  Faith  may  accept ;  only  longsuffering  inherits  tJie  promise. 
Day  by  day,  without  intermission,  rather  with  ever-growing 
zeal  and  diligence,  our  allegiance  to  Jesus  our  Leader  must  be 
maintained,  or  backsliding  must  inevitably  ensue.  And  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  a  very  hospital  of  backsliding  Christians, 
who  meant  honestly,  in  the  joy  of  their  first  love,  to  live  wholly 
for  God,  and  who  yet  gradually  sank  down  into  a  life  of 
formality  and  feebleness.  There  is  nothing  the  Church  needs 
more  than  the  preaching  of  daily  diligence  and  perseverance  as 
the  indispensable  condition  of  growth  and  strength.  Let  us 
learn  from  the  Epistle  how  these  virtues  can  be  fostered  in 
ourselves  and  others.  It  had  spoken  of  those  who  through  faith 
and  longsuffering  inherit  the  promises.     It  will  now  show  us, 

1  Suffered  long. 


216  zbc  txMlcst  Of  Bll 


from  the  example  of  Abraham,  wliat  this  means.  It  first  points 
us,  as  ever,  to  what  God  promises,  and  then  to  the  disposition 
in  man  which  this  claims  and  works. 

For  when  God  made  promise  to  Abraham,  since  He  could 
swear  by  none  greater,  He  sware  by  Himself,  saying,  Surely 
blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  multiplying  I  will  multiply  thee. 
The  deeper  our  insi^dit  into  the  certainty  and  the  fulness  of  the 
blessing  of  God,  the  more  will  our  hearts  be  roused  to  believe 
and  to  persevere.  The  word  of  God  is  our  assurance  of  what 
we  are  to  expect.  Mow  much  greater  must  our  confidence 
be  when  that  word  is  an  oath  ?  Of  this  the  following  verses  are 
to  speak.  Mere  the  fulness  of  God's  blessing  is  set  before  us  in 
the  ])romise  given  to  Abraham  :  as  his  seed  we  are  his  heirs, 
and  what  God  promised  him  is  for  us  too.  We  need  be  content 
with  nothing  less ;  nothing  less  will  stimulate  us  to  a  life  like 
his  in  faith  and  patience. 

Surely  blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  multiplying  I  will 
multiply  thee.  In  Hebrew  the  repetition  of  a  verb  is  meant  to 
give  force  to  uhat  is  said,  to  express  the  certainty  and  the 
greatness  of  what  is  asserted.  In  the  mouth  of  God  the 
repetition,  Blessing  I  will  bless,  multiplying  I  will  multiply, 
was  meant  to  waken  in  Abraham's  heart  the  confidence  that  the 
blessing  was  indeed  to  be  something  very  wonderful  and  woi'thj' 
of  God,  blessing  in  divine  power  and  fulness.  What  that 
blessing  was  to  be,  the  second  half  of  the  sentence  shows. 
Multiplying  I  will  multiply  thee.  Scripture  teaches  us  that  the 
highest  blessing  which  God  can  bestow,  that  which  makes  us 
truly  Godlike,  is  the  power  of  multiplying  ourselves,  of  becoming, 
as  God  is,  the  source  antl  the  blessing  of  other  lives.  So  the 
two  words  are  connected  in  passages  like  Gen.  i.  32,  28  ;  ix.  i. 
Of  the  living  creatures  it  is  said  :  Cod  b/cssed  thcni,  saying.  Be 


Zbc  Ibollest  of  ail  217 


fruitful  and  multiply.  And  of  man  :  And  God  blessed  them, 
and  God  said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful  and  multiply.  So  of  Noah 
too  :  And  God  blessed  Noah  and  his  sons,  and  said,  Be  fruitful 
and  multiply.  It  is  the  glory  of  God  that  He  is  the  dispenser 
of  Hfe — that  in  His  creatures  He  multiplies  His  own  life  and 
blessedness.  .\nd  it  is  one  of  His  highest  blessings  when  He 
communicates  this  power  of  increase  to  those  whom  He  chooses 
for  His  service.  The  power  of  His  blessing  to  Adam  is  seen 
in  the  race  that  sprang  from  him,  as  of  His  blessing  to  Abraham 
in  his  seed,  even  in  Jesus  Christ  Himself  And  to  each  child  of 
Abraham,  to  each  true  believer,  the  promise  still  comes  in  divine 
power:  Surely  blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  multiplying  I 
will  multiply  thee.  Every  believer  who  will  but  claim,  and 
give  himself  up  to  the  blessing  of  God,  will  find  that  the  bless- 
ing is  a  power  of  the  divine  life  which  will  make  him  fruitful  in 
blessing  to  others,  and  make  it  true  of  him  too,  multiplying  I 
will  multiply  thee.  Even  we,  like  Christ,  can  become  priests, 
bringing  the  blessing  of  God  to  those  who  know  Him  not. 

It  is  when  this  fulness  of  blessing  in  its  divine  energy,  when 
this  blessing  I  will  bless  thee  begins  to  be  understood,  and  the 
soul  sees  that  there  is  something  beyond  the  mere  being  saved 
from  wrath,  that  there  is  a  becoming  the  recipient,  and  the 
channel,  and  the  dispenser,  of  life  and  blessing  to  others,  that  it 
becomes  willing  to  sacrifice  everything,  and  in  longsuffering  to 
endure  until  it  obtain  the  promise. 

Christian  !  wouldest  thou  be  an  imitator  of  Abraham,  and  let 
the  God  who  spake  to  him  speak  to  thee?  Remember  it  is  not 
so  easy  to  receive  and  claim  this  promise.  Abraham  received 
it  in  the  way  of  faith  and  obedience  and  self-sacrifice,  in  the 
entire  surrender  to  God's  will  and  leading.  It  was  when  he  had 
sacrificed   Isaac,  yea  more,  when  in  doing  so  he  had  sacrificed 


218  ilbc  Ibollcdt  ot  Bll 


himself,  that  this  promise  was  given  him  with  an  oath.  God 
will  speak  to  thee  as  truly  as  to  Abraham.  Learn  with  him  to 
go  out  of  thy  country  and  thy  home ;  give  thyself  to  God's 
leading  ;  be  prepared  to  sacrifice  all,  God  will  meet  thee  too 
with  His  double  blessing.  And  thy  heart  will  become  strong  to 
hear  His  voice, "Blessing  /w/// bless,  multiplying /w/// multiply." 
.And  it  will  be  true  of  thee  as  of  Abraham  :  And  thus,  having 
patiently  endured,  he  obtained  the  promise.  We  shall  not 
only  be  the  heirs,  but  the  actual  inheritors  of  the  promise. 

7.  It  is  after  the  most  terrible  warning  this  promise  comes.  Until  the  slothful  Christian 
is  roused  the  most  precious  promise  finds  no  entrance.  When  he  is  roused,  it  is  the  preaching 
of  the  promise  in  its  fulness  wilt  give  him  courage  and  strength. 

2.  Does  your  heart  condemn  you,  and  do  you  fear  that  there  is  but  little  hope  of  your 
becoming  a  bright,  growing,  holy  child  of  God,  blessed  and  made  a  blessing  ?  Come  and  learn 
from  Abraham  the  secret,  God  spake  to  him  !  Listen  to  God.  Let  God  speak  to  you,  follow 
where  He  leads,  obey  what  He  commands.  He  will  bring  you  to  the  place  of  blessing,  the 
place  of  the  revelation  of  Himself. 

3.  And  put  at  once  into  practice  the  lesson  of  to-day.  Be  not  discouraged  if  you  feel 
feeble  and  cold,  and  if  there  appears  to  be  no  progress.  Listen  to  God's,  Blessing  I  will  bless 
you.    £esil_onwhat  God  says.    And  trust  Him  to  work  in  you  all  you  need. 

4.  Are  you  a  worker  in  God's  seruice  ?  Wait  upon  God  to  speak  this  word  to  you  too. 
Multiplying  I  will  multiply  you.  He  can  make  even  you  a  blessing  to  many.  But  such  a 
promise  needs  an  oath  to  find  entrance  to  the  heart.     Accept  and  live  on  the  oath  of  God. 


JZbe  Ibolicst  of  ail  219 


XLVIII. 

THE  OATH  OF  GOD. 

VI.— 16.  For  men  swear  by  the  greater:  and  in  every  dispute  of  thelra  the 
oath  is  final  for  confirmation. 

17.  Wherein  God,  being  minded  to  shew  more  abundantly  unto  the  heirs 
of  the  promise  the  immutability  of  his  counsel,  interposed ^  with  an  oath: 

18.  That  by  two  immutable  things,  in  which  it  is  impossible  for  God  to 
lie,  we  may  have  a  strong  encouragement,  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold 
of  the  hope  set  before  us. 

For  any  .serious  man  it  is  always  a  solemn  thing  to  take  an 
oath,  and  appeal  to  the  omniscient  God  for  the  truth  of  what 
He  says.  But  there  is  something  more  solemn  even  than  taking 
an  oath  before  God,  and  that  is,  God's  taking  an  oath  before 
man.  And  this  is  what  our  writer  proceeds  now  to  speak  of. 
He  had  already  spoken  of  God's  oath  in  His  wrath.  They  shall 
not  enter  into  My  rest.  He  will  in  the  next  chapter  point  out  the 
deep  significance  of  Christ's  appointment  as  High  Priest  being 
confirmed  by  an  oath.  Here  he  wishes  to  show  believers  what 
strong  encouragement  they  have  in  God's  oath  to  expect  most 
confidently  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise.  It  is  this  confidence 
alone  that  will  enable  the  Christian  to  endure  and  conquer. 

Let  us  once  more  consider  this.  The  oath  of  God  plainly 
proves  that  the  thing  He  seeks  above  everything  is — faith ; 
He  wishes  to  be  trusted.  Faith  is  nothing  but  depending  on 
God  to  do  for  us  what  we  cannot  do — what  He  has  undertaken 

^  Mediated. 


220  Cbe  IboUest  of  Bll 


to  do.  God's  purpose  concerning  us  is  something  of  infinite  and 
inconceivable  blessedness.  He  is  ready,  He  longs,  as  God,  Him- 
self to  work  in  us  all  that  He  has  promised.  He  cannot  do  this 
except  as  we  open  our  hearts  to  Him,  and  yield  ourselves  in 
stillness  and  surrender  for  Him  to  do  His  work.  Until  this 
faith  takes  possession  of  us,  we  are  always  seeking  to  do 
His  work,  and  we  hinder  Him.  Faith  teaches  us  in  deep 
humility  and  dependence,  in  meekness  and  patience,  to  j^lace 
ourscKes  in  God's  hands,  to  make  way  for  Him,  and  to  wait 
His  time,  h'aith  opens  the  whole  heart  and  life  in  expectation 
and  hope.  Then  God  is  free  to  work;  faith  gives  Him  His 
place  as  God,  and  honours  Him;  and  He  fulfils  the  promise, 
///;//  tJuit  /lonoureth  Mc,  will  I  Jioiiouj-.  Oh,  do  learn  the  lesson, 
that  the  first  and  the  last,  the  one  thing,  God  asks  is-^that  we 
trust  flim,  to  do  His  work. 

It  is  for  this  that  He  mediates,  comes  in  between,  with  an 
oath.  Just  notice  the  expressions  that  are  used  :  God  willing 
to  show — they  had  shown  their  love  toward  His  name  ;  they 
had  been  urged  to  show  diligence  unto  the  fulness  of  hope  ;  here 
they  are  told  what  God  will  show  them — willing  to  show  more 
abundantly  to  the  heirs  of  salvation  the  immutability  of  His 
counsel.  God  wills  to  show  us  how  unchangeable  His  purpose  to 
bless  us  is,  ifwc  will  but  let  Him,  if  we  will  but  trust  Him, and  by 
trusting  let  Him  work.  And  He  wills  to  show  us  this  more 
abundantly.  He  wants  us  to  have  such  more  abundant  proof 
of  it,  that  we  may,  as  we  had  it  in  chap.  ii.  i,  take  more  abundant 
heed,  and  see  that  there  can  be  no  possibility  of  a  doubt :  God 
will  do  it.  It  was  hjr  this  He  confirmed  the  promise  with  an 
oath. 

That  by  two  immutable  things — His  promise  and  His  oath 
—in  which  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might  have  a 


ZbC  IbOltCSt  Ot  mi  221 


strong  encouragement.  Just  notice  the  expression — impossible 
for  God  to  lie  \  It  is  as  if  God  asks,  if  we  do  not  think  His  word 
enough,  if  we  think  it  possible  that  He,  the  faithful  and  the 
unchangeable  One,  should  lie.  He  know^s  how  little  our 
darkened  hearts  trust  Him ;  His  promises  are  so  large,  so 
divine,  so  heavenly,  that  we  cannot  take  them  in.  And  so,  to 
waken  and  to  shame  us  out  of  our  unbelief.  He  comes,  and, 
as  if  it  were  possible  for  God  to  lie,  calls  us  to  listen  as  He  takes 
an  oath  in  our  presence  that  He  will  do  what  He  has  said  : 
Blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  multiplying  I  will  multiply 
thee.  And  all,  that  we,  the  heirs  of  salvation,  might  have  a 
strong  encouragement.  Surely  every  vestige  of  fear  and  doubt 
ought  to  pass  away,  and  our  whole  soul  fall  down  to  worship 
and  to  cry  out  :  O  God  !  we  do  trust  Thee.  Never,  never,  will 
I  doubt  Thy  word  again. 

God,  since  He  could  swear  by  none  greater,  sware  by 
Himself.  Yes.  By  Himself .'  in  that  lies  the  power  of  the  oath, 
and  the  power  of  our  faith  in  our  oath.  God  points  to  Himself — 
His  divine  Being,  His  glory,  His  power,  and  pledges  Himself 
gives  Himself  as  sceurity,  as  hostage,  that,  as  sure  as  He  lives.  He 
will  fulfil  His  promise.  Oh,  if  we  would  but  take  time  to  tarr}' 
in  the  presence  of  this  God,  and  to  listen  to  Him  swearing  to  us 
that  He  will  be  faithful,  surely  we  should  fall  down  in  confusion 
that  we  ever  harboured  for  a  moment  the  doubt,  which  thinks  it 
possible  that  He  may  be  untrue  and  not  keep  His  word.  Shall 
we  not  kneel  and  vow  that  by  His  grace  we  will  rather  die  than 
again  make  such  a  God  a  liar? 

And  now  let  us  pause  and  realise  what  all  this  argument 
about  the  blessing  and  the  oath  of  God  means.  In  the  Christian 
life  there  is  lack  of  steadfastness,  of  diligence,  of  perseverance. 
Of  all  the  cause  is  simply — lack  of  faith.     And  of  this  again  the 


222  Zbc  -fcoliest  ot  UU 


cause  is — the  lack  of  the  k-nowledge  of  what  God  wills  and  is,  of 
His  purpose  and  power  to  bless  most  wonderfully,  and  of  His 
faithfulness  to  carry  out  His  purpose.  It  is  to  cure  these  evils: 
it  is  to  tell  His  people  that  He  will  do  anything  to  win  their 
trust,  and  will  do  anything  for  them  if  they  will  trust  Him,  that 
God  has  taken  His  oath  of  faithfulness.  Oh,  shall  we  not  this 
day  believe  God  and  believe  in  the  fulness  of  His  blessing? 
And  shall  we  not  count  it  our  most  sacred  duty,  and  our  most 
blessed  privilege,  to  honour  God  every  day  by  a  life  of  full  and 
perfect  trust  ? 

?.  'T/ic  oat/i /or  confirmation."  The  same  word  as  in  Heb.  Hi.  7.  14,  and  vi.  19,  firm.  As  we 
sec  how  firm,  how  steadfast,  God's  promise  and  the  hope  He  gives  us,  our  confidence  will  grow 
more  firm  too.  The  fulness  of  my  faith  depends  upon  nnj  being  occupied  with  the  faithfulneis  of 
God. 

2.  By  faith  and  long  suffering.  Having  suffered  long.  God  is  often  very  slow.  "He 
bears  long  with  His  elect."  This  is  the  patience  of  the  saints :  to  let  God  tahe  His  time,  and 
through  all  ever  to  trust  Him. 

3,  That  ye  be  not  slothful :  it  is  the  faith  that  God  will  worh  all,  that  rouses  to  diligence 
both  in  waiting  on  Him  and  in  doing  His  will. 


Cbe  iboliest  of  BU  223 


XLIX. 

THE  FORERUNNER  WITHIN  THE  VEIL. 

VI.— 18.  That  we  may  have  a  strong  encouragement,  who  have  fled  for 
refuge  to  lay  hold  of  the  hope  set  before  us ; 

19.  Which  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  a  hope  both  sure  and  sted- 
fast  1  and  entering  into  that  which  is  within  the  veil ; 

20.  Whither  as  a  Forerunner  Jesus  entered  for  us,  having  become  a  High 
Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melcliizedek. 

In  chap,  v.,  speaking  of  the  priesthood  of  Jesus,  the  writer 
had  twice  cited  the  words  of  Psalm  ex.,  with  its  prophecy  of  a 
Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  (v.  6,  10).  But  he  feared 
that  the  Hebrews  were,  by  reason  of  sloth,  too  far  back  in  the 
Christian  life  to  be  able  to  receive  this  higher  teaching.  It  was 
on  this  account  he  interposed  his  words  of  reproof  and  warning. 
From  these  he  had  passed  to  exhortation  and  encouragement, 
and  is  now  ready  to  address  himself  to  what  is  the  central 
teaching  of  the  Epistle.  There  are  specially  two  great  heavenly 
mysteries  he  is  commissioned  to  unfold.  The  one,  that  of  the 
heavenly  priesthood  of  Christ ;  the  other,  that  of  the  heavenly 
sanctuary  in  which  He  ministers,  and  into  which  He  gives  us 
access.  In  the  two  last  verses  of  our  sixth  chapter  we  have  the 
transition  to  the  new  section,  and  in  it  these  mysteries  are  both 
mentioned  as  the  hope  set  before  us.  Hope  enters  within  the 
veil ;  it  finds  there  the  Forerunner,  who  has  entered  for  us, 
Jesus  a  High  Priest,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 

^  Firm. 


224  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


We  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  of  the  hope  set 
before  us.  T/ic  hope  sometimes  means  the  object  of  hope,  that 
which  God  sets  before  us  ;  sometimes  the  subjective  grace  or 
disposition  of  ho])e  in  our  licarts.  Here  it  specially  refers  to 
tlie  former.  And  what  that  liope  is,  is  clear  from  the  next 
chapter  (vii.  19),  where  we  read  of  the  bringing-  in  of  a  better 
hope,  through  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God.  This  better  hope 
is  the  access  our  High  Priest  in  hea\en  gives  us  int(j  God's  very 
presence,  into  the  enjoyment  of  His  fellowship  and  blessedness, 
even  while  here  on  earth. 

Which  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  a  hope  both  sure 
and  firm,  and  entering  into  that  which  is  within  the  veil. 
The  hope  is  an  anchor.  A  ship  is  held  by  the  anchor  cast  into 
the  unseen  depth  beneath.  So  the  hope  in  the  unseen  within  the 
veil,  which  God  has  given  us,  holds  us  fast.  And  as  our  heart  is 
fixed  upon  it,  hope  as  a  subjective  grace  is  stirred  and  drawn, 
and  enters  within  the  veil  too.  Where  our  hope  lives  there  the 
heart  lives.     There  we,  our  real  selves,  are  living  too. 

Whither  the  Forerunner  is  for  us  entered.  The  Fore- 
niiiiicr.  Here  we  have  another  of  the  keywords  of  the  Epistle, 
without  the  right  understanding  of  which  our  view  of  the 
work  of  Jesus  as  High  Priest  must  be  defective.  It  points 
us  to  tlie  work  He  did  in  opening  up  the  way,  by  Himself 
walking  in  it;  to  our  following  Him  in  that  way  to  the  place 
into  which  He  has  entered,  and  into  which  wc  now  have  access. 
We  have  had  His  name  as  Leader.  We  shall  yet  have  (x.  21) 
the  new  and  living  way  He  has  opened  up.  We  shall  hear 
(xii.  i)  of  the  race  we  have  to  run,  looking  to  Jesus,  who  went 
on  before,  enduring  the  cross,  and  is  now  set  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  There  is  nothing  will  so  much  help  us  to  under- 
stand the  work    Jesus    does    as    Son   and    High    Priest   as  the 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  BU  225 


acceptance  of  Him  as  Leader  and  Forerunner,  bringing  us  into 
the  very  presence  of  the  Father. 

Entered  for  us.  We  are  so  famiHar  with  all  the  blessed 
meaning  there  is  in  the  words  for  us,  in  reference  to  Christ  on 
the  cross.  What  He  did  there  was  all  for  us  ;  by  it  and  in  it 
we  live.  No  less  is  it  true  of  Christ  within  the  veil.  It  is  all 
for  ns ;  all  that  He  is  and  has  there  is  for  us ;  it  is  our  present 
possession  ;  by  it  and  in  it  we  live  with  Him  and  in  Him,  The 
veil  was  rent  that  the  way  through  it  might  be  opened  for  its ; 
that  we  might  have  access  to  that  which  is  tuithin  the  veil;  that 
we  might  enter  into  a  new  world,  an  entirely  new  way  of  living 
in  close  and  intimate  fellowship  with  God.  A  high  priest  must 
have  a  sanctuary  in  which  he  ministers.  The  mystery  of  the 
opened  sanctuary  is  that  we  can  enter  too.  The  inner  sanctuary, 
the  Holiest  of  All,  the  presence  of  God,  is  the  sphere  of  Christ's 
ministry  and  our  life  and  service. 

The  Forerunner,  even  Jesus !  It  is  as  if  the  writer  delights 
to  repeat  this  name  which  our  Saviour  bears  as  Son  of  Man. 
Even  in  the  glory  of  heaven  He  is  still  Jesus,  our  Brother, 

Having  become  a  High  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order 
of  Melchizedek,  We  have  yet  to  learn  all  that  is  contained  in 
this  Melchizedek  priesthood.  But  this  will  be  its  chief  glory — 
that  He  is  a  Priest  for  ever,  a  Priest  in  the  power  of  an  endless 
life,  a  Priest  who  opens  to  us  the  state  of  life  to  which  He 
Himself  has  entered  in,  and  brings  us  there  to  live  here  on  earth 
with  the  life  of  eternity  in  our  bosom. 

Christian  reader !  knowest  thou  the  power  of  this  hope, 
entering  into  that  which  is  within  the  veil,  whither  the  Fore- 
runner is  for  us  entered.  Jesus  is  in  heaven  for  thee,  to  secure 
thee  a  life  on  earth  in  the  power  and  joy  of  heaven,  to  maintain 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  within  thee,  by  that  Sj^irit,  through  whom 
15 


226  ttbc  Ibolicst  of  Sll 


God's  will  is  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  All  that  Jesus  is 
and  has,  is  heaven!)-.  All  that  He  gives  and  does,  is  heavenly. 
As  High  Priest  at  God's  right  hand,  He  blesses  with  all  heavenly 
blessings.  Oh,  prepare  thyself,  as  the  glory  of  His  person  and 
ministry  in  the  hea\enly  places  are  now  to  be  opened  up  to  thee, 
to  look  upon  it,  and  appropriate  it  all,  as  thy  personal  posses- 
sion. And  believe  that  His  High  Priesthood  not  only  consists 
in  His  having  secured  certain  heavenly  blessings  for  thee,  but 
in  his  fitting  and  enabling  thee  to  enter  into  the  full  personal 
experience  and  enjoyment  of  them. 

7.  There  is  a  sanctuary  in  which  God  dwells.  There  was  a  veil  that  separated  man  from 
God.  Jesus  came  from  within  to  live  without  the  veil,  and  rend  it,  and  open  a  way  for  us. 
He  is  now  there  for  us  as  Forerunner.  We  may  now  enter  in  and  dwell  there,  in  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.     This  is  the  gospel  according  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

2.  Hope  enters  within  the  veil,  rejoices  in  all  there  to  be  found,  and  counts  upon  the 
revelation  in  the  heart  of  all  that  is  there  prepared  for  us. 

3.  Jesus  the  Forerunner,  follow  Him.  Even  though  thou  canst  not  understand  all,  follow 
Him  in  His  path  of  humility  and  meekness  and  obedience :  He  will  bring  thee  in.  This  is  the 
promise  which,  even  in  this  life,  thou  shalt  inherit,  through  patience  and  longsuffering. 


Zlic  IboUest  of  an  227 


FIFTH  SECTION.-vii.  1-28. 
The  New  Priesthood  after  the  Order  of  Melchizedek. 


L. 

MELCHIZEDEK  MADE  LIKE  UNTO  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

VII.— 1.  For  this  Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem,  priest  of  God  Most  High, 
who  met  Abraham  retvirning  from  the  slaughter  of  the  kings,  and  blessed 
him, 

2.  To  whom  also  Abraham  divided  a  tenth  part  of  all  (being  first,  by  inter- 
pretation, King  of  righteousness,  and  then  also  King  of  Salem,  which  is.  King 
of  peace ; 

3.  Without  father,  without  mother,  without  genealogy,  having  neither  be- 
ginning of  days  nor  end  of  life,  but  made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God),  abideth  a 
priest  continually. 

In  chap.  V.  we  read  that  Jesus  was  called  of  God,  even  as 
was  Aaron.  In  many  points  Aaron  was  a  type  of  Christ.  But 
there  were  other  respects  in  which  the  priesthood  of  Aaron 
utterly  failed  even  to  prefigure  that  of  Christ.  By  a  special 
divine  provision  the  name  of  another  is  found,  in  whom,  what 
was  wanting  in  Aaron  as  type,  was  foreshadowed.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  priesthood  of  Aaron  and  Melchizedek  is  a 
radical  one.  In  the  right  understanding  of  what  that  difference 
is,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  that  in  which  Melchizedek  has  been 
made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God,  lies  the  secret  of  this  Epistle, 


228  Cbe  Dollest  of  ail 


and  the  secret  of  the  Christian  life  in  its  power  and  perfection. 
The  secret  may  be  expressed  in  one  word — Priest  FOR  EVER. 

The  whole  place  Melchizedek  occupies  in  sacred  history  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  proofs  of  the  inspiration  and  the  unity 
of  Scripture,  as  written  under  the  direct  supernatural  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Sj^irit.  In  the  Book  of  Genesis  all  wc  know  of  him  is 
told  in  three  short,  very  simple  verses.  A  thousand  years  later  we 
find  a  Psalm  with  just  one  single  verse,  in  which  God  Himself  is 
introduced,  swearing  to  His  Son  that  He  is  to  be  a  High  Priest 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  Another  thousand  years  pass, 
and  that  single  verse  becomes  the  seed  of  the  wondrous  exposition, 
in  this  lipistle,  of  the  whole  work  of  redemption  as  revealed  in 
Christ  Jesus.  All  its  most  remarkable  characteristic;?  are  found 
enveloped  in  the  wondrous  type.  The  more  we  study  it  the 
more  we  exclaim :  This  is  the  Lonfs  doing ;  it  is  mai'vellous  in 
our  eyes.  We  see  in  it  nothing  less  than  a  miracle  of  divine 
wisdom,  guiding  Melchizedek  and  Abraham  with  a  view  to  what 
was  to  take  place  with  the  Son  of  God  two  thousand  years 
later  ;  revealing  to  the  Psalmist  the  secret  purpose  of  the  divine 
mind  in  the  promise  made  to  the  Son  in  heaven  ;  and  then,  by 
the  same  Holy  Spirit,  guiding  the  writer  of  our  Epistle  to  his 
divinely-inspired  exposition.  To  the  believing  mind  no  stronger 
proof  of  inspiration  could  possibly  be  given,  ll  is  indeed  the 
Eternal  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  Himself,  through  whom  all 
was  wrought  and  in  due  time  recorded. 

In  the  first  three  verses  of  our  chapter  we  are  reminded  of 
the  story  of  Melchizedek,  and  the  exposition  is  given  of  his 
name  and  history.  His  name  signifies — King  of  righteous- 
ness. He  is  also  called,  from  the  city  where  he  reigned,  Salem, 
meaning  Peace — the  King  of  peace.  The  two  titles  thus  com- 
bined  proved  how  he  was  destined  of  God   to  be  the  figure  of 


trbe  Ibolfcst  of  ail  229 


His  Son.  Righteousness  and  peace  are  mentioned  together 
both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New  as  characteristic 
blessings  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Righteousness  as  the  only 
foundation  of  peace  :  peace  as  its  sure  and  blessed  result.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness  and  peace,  and,  as  the  sure 
fruit  of  these,  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Melchizedek  was  priest  and  king — a  thing  unknown  in  all 
the  history  of  Israel.  What  was  always  kept  asunder  in  God's 
people  had,  by  the  divine  forethought,  been  united  in  Him  who 
had  been  made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  the  glory  of 
Christ  as  the  Priest-King  that  our  Epistle  is  specially  to  unfold. 

The  silence  of  Scripture  as  to  his  genealogy  and  birth  and 
death  is  then  interpreted  as  proof  of  how  different  his  priesthood 
is  from  that  of  Aaron  and  the  priests  in  Israel,  where  descent 
was  everything.  So  had  God  prepared  in  Him  a  wondrous 
prophecy  of  His  Son,  whose  right  to  the  priesthood  lay  in  no 
earthly  birth,  but  in  His  being  the  Son  of  God  from  eternity  to 
eternity.  Made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God,  Melchizedek  abideth 
a  priest  continually. 

A  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  This 
word  of  God  is  in  the  Psalm  which  forms  the  connecting  link 
between  Genesis  and  our  Epistle.  The  Holy  Spirit  who  first 
inspired  it,  and  then  expounded  it,  is  waiting  to  lead  us  into 
the  mystery  of  its  glory,  as  a  living  experience.  That  word 
for  ever,  that  we  meet  in  the  expressions.  Priest  for  ever, 
eternal  salvation,  eternal  redemption,  perfected  for  ever,  not 
only  signifies  without  end,  but  infinitely  more.  God  is  the 
Eternal  One ;  His  life  is  eternal  life.  Eternal  is  that  which 
is  divine,  in  which  there  is  no  change  or  decay,  but  everlasting 
youth  and  strength,  because  God  is  in  it.  The  everlasting 
priesthood  of  Christ  means  that  He  will  do  His  work  in  us  in 


230  JZbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll 

the  power  of  the  eternal  life,  as  that  is  lived  in  God  and  heaven. 
He  lives  for  ever,  therefore  He  can  save  completely. 

May  God  teach  us  to  know  what  it  means  that  Christ  is  our 
Melchizedek,  a  Priest  for  ever.  It  is  the  spiritual  apprehension 
of  this  everlasting  priesthood,  as  communicating  even  here  and 
maintaining  an  everlasting,  unchangeable  life  in  us,  that  lifts  our 
inner  experience  out  of  the  region  of  effort,  and  change,  and 
failure,  into  the  rest  of  God,  so  that  the  immutability  of  His 
counsel  is  the  measure  of  that  of  our  faith  and  hope. 

7.  In  this  chapter  we  have  now  the  beginning  of  the  things  hard  to  be  understood  except  by  the 
perfect.  It  is  only  those  who  press  on  to  perfection,  who  long  to  possess  the  very  utmost  of  what 
Qod  is  able  to  work  in  them  through  Christ,  who  can  inwardly  appropriate  the  revelation  of  the 
eternal  priesthood.  Neither  talent  nor  genius  can  suffice— it  is  the  heart  that  thirsts  for  the 
living  God  that  will  understand  this  teaching  about  our  being  brought  nigh  to  God. 

2.  The  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom  the  history  was  recorded,  and  the  oath  to  the  Son  revealed, 
and  the  exposition  inspired,  can  alone  lead  us  into  the  spiritual  power  and  blessing  here  revealed. 
And  the  Holy  Spirit  only  leads  as  He  is  known  as  the  indwelling  One,  is  waited  on  in  deep  humility, 
and  yielded  to  in  meek  resignation.  What  a  solemn,  holy,  blessed  thing  to  believe  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  is  leading  us  into  this  perfection-truth  as  a  possession  and  experience. 

3.  He  abideth  continually  :  an  unchanging,  never-ending  life,  the  characteristic  of  Melchize- 
dek, who  was  made  like  to  Christ,  of  Christ  in  His  heavenly  priesthood,  and  of  the  life  of  the 
believer  who  learns  rightly  to  know  and  trust  Him. 


tlbe  Iboliest  of  BU  28i 


LI. 

MELCHIZEDEK  AND  ABRAHAM. 

VII.— 4.  Now  consider  how  great  this  man  was,  unto  whom  Abraham,  the 
patriarch,  gave  a  tenth  out  of  the  chief  spoils. 

5.  And  they  indeed  of  the  sons  of  Levi  that  receive  the  priest's  office  have 
commandment  to  take  tithes  of  the  people  according  to  the  law,  that  is,  of 
their  brethren,  though  these  have  come  out  of  the  loins  of  Abraham : 

6.  But  he.  whose  genealogy  is  not  counted  from  them,  hath  taken  tithes 
of  Abraham,  and  hath  blessed  him  that  hath  the  promises. 

7.  But  without  any  dispute  the  less  is  blessed  of  the  better. 

8.  And  here  men  that  die  receive  tithes ;  but  there  one,  of  whom  it  is 
witnessed  that  he  liveth. 

9.  And,  so  to  say,  through  Abraham  even  Levi,  who  received  tithes  hath 
paid  tithes ; 

10.  For  he  was  yet  in  the  loins  of  his  father,  when  Melchizedek  met  him. 

Now  consider  how  great  this  man  was.  If  we  rightly  appre- 
hend the  greatness  of  Melchizedek,  it  will  help  us  to  understand 
the  greatness  of  Christ,  our  great  High  Priest,  The  Hebrews 
gloried  in  Abraham,  as  the  father  of  the  chosen  people  ;  in 
Aaron,  who  as  high  priest  was  the  representative  of  God  and 
His  worship  ;  in  the  law  as  given  from  heaven,  in  token  of  God's 
covenant  with  His  people.  In  all  these  respects  the  superiority  of 
Melchizedek  is  proved.  He  is  more  than  Abraham  (4-10),  more 
than  Aaron  (1 1-14),  more  than  the  law  (11- 19). 

Melchizedek  is  more  than  Abraham  ;  of  this  a  double  proof 
is  given.  Abraham  gave  tithes  to  Melchizedek ;  Melchizedek 
blessed  Abraham.  According  to  the  law  the  priests  received 
tithes   from  their  brethren,  but  here  a  stranger  receives  them 


232  ^be  1bo»c0t  of  ail 


from  the  father  of  the  whole  people.  There  is  more  ;  in  Israel  men 
who  die  receive  tithes  ;  but  here  one  of  whom  it  is  witnessed 
that  He  liveth,  who  abideth  continually.  And  in  Abraham, 
even  Levi,  who  received  tithes,  paid  tithes.  All  was  so  ordered 
of  God  as  a  hidden  prophecy,  to  be  unfolded  in  due  time,  of  the 
greatness  of  Christ  our  High  Priest.  Consider  how  great  this 
man  was. 

There  is  a  second  proof  of  his  greatness  ;  Melchizedek 
blessed  Abraham.  But  without  any  dispute  the  less  is  blessed 
of  the  better.  Abraham  had  already  been  blessed  of  God 
Himself  (Gen.  xii,  2).  He  here  accepts  a  blessing  from  Melchi- 
zedek,  acknowledging  his  own  inferiority,  unconsciously  sub- 
ordmating  himself  and  the  whole  priesthood  that  was  to  come 
from  him,  to  this  priest  of  the  Most  High  God. 

The  unfolding  of  this  divinely-ordained  type  not  only  reveals 
the  superiority  of  Christ  to  the  Levitical  priesthood,  but  sets 
before  us  most  suggestively  two  of  the  characteristics  of  our 
relation  to  Christ  as  Priest.  We  receive  blessing  from  Him  ;  He 
receives  tithes  from  us. 

Christ  comes  to  bring  us  God's  blessing.  We  have  seen  in 
chap.  vi.  14  what  God's  blessing  is.  It  is  in  Christ  that  the 
blessing  is  confirmed  and  imparted.  And  if  we  would  know 
lully  what  the  blessing  is  Christ  brings  us,  we  have  only  to 
think  of  the  priestly  blessing  in  Israel. 

On  this  luisc  jc  shall  bless  the  children  of  Israel,  saying  unto 
the  VI, 

The  Lord  bless  thcc,  and  keep  ihee  ; 

The    Lord  make   His  face  10  shine   upon   thee,  and  be 

gracious  unto  thee  : 
The  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  ujion  tliee,  and  give 

thee  peace. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  ail 


These  are  indeed  the  spiritual  blessings  in  the  heavenlies 
with  which  God  hath  blessed  us  in  Christ  and  which,  as  High 
Priest,  Christ  dispenses.  He  brings  us  to  the  Father,  and  we 
learn  to  know  that  He  blesses  and  keeps  us.  In  Him,  the  Son, 
God's  face  shines  upon  us,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  our  portion.  In  Him  God  lifts  up  His  countenance 
upon  us,  and,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  gives  His  peace  unto  our 
hearts.  Christ  the  High  Priest  makes  every  part  of  this  blessing 
a  divine  reality,  a  living  experience  in  the  power  of  a  life  that 
abides  continually. 

Christ  gives  us  the  blessing,  we  give  Him  the  tithes.  The 
tithes  to  God  are  the  acknowledgment  of  His  right  to  all.  Our 
High  Priest  has  a  right  to  the  surrender  of  all  we  have,  as 
belonging  to  Him,  to  the  willing  sacrifice  of  all  He  asks  or 
needs  for  His  service.  The  connection  between  the  tithes  and 
the  blessing  is  closer  than  we  know.  The  more  unreservedly  we 
place  all  that  we  have  at  His  disposal,  the  more  we  in  very  deed 
forsake  all  for  His  sake,  the  richer  will  our  experience  be  of  the 
fulness  and  the  power  which  our  High  Priest  can  bless. 

Without  dispute  the  less  is  blessed  of  the  better.  This  is 
the  true  relation.  The  more  we  know  of  that  better  name  which 
Jesus  has  received,  and  have  our  hearts  filled  with  His  glory,  the 
lower  we  shall  bow,  the  less  we  shall  become  in  our  own  eyes  ; 
and  thereby  the  fitter  and  the  more  willing  to  be  blessed. 
And  the  more  ready,  too,  to  render  Him  not  only  the  tithes,  but 
the  whole  of  all  we  are  and  possess,  x'\s  in  our  spiritual  life 
this  twofold  relation  to  our  great  High  Priest  is  maintained, 
and  a  deep  faith  and  dependence  on  His  divine  fulness  of 
blessing  is  cultivated,  along  with  an  absolute  surrender  to  His 
disposal  and  service,  the  mighty  power  of  His  priesthood  will 
be  revealed  in  our  hearts.     And  we  shall  see  with  ever-increas- 


284  zbe  Dolteet  of  ail 


ing  clearness  that  the  two  dispositions,  faith  in  Him  who 
blesses  and  consecration  to  His  service,  have  their  root  in  the 
one  cardinal  virtue  of  humility,  making  us  ever  less  and  less  in 
our  own  eyes,  until  we  sink  into  that  nothingness,  which  is  the 
death  to  self,  and  makes  room  for  Him  to  be  All.  Then  the 
word  will  be  fulfilled  in  us  in  a  new  meaning:  Without  dispute 
the  less  is  blessed  of  the  better. 

7.  Melchizedek  blessed  Abraham.  The  work  of  thy  High  Priest.  0  my  soul,  is  simply 
blessing.  Learn  to  thinh  this  of  Jesus,  and  seek  to  have  a  great  confidence  that  He  delights  to 
bless.     He  is  nothing  but  a  fountain  of  blessing  ;  rejoice  greatly  in  this  and  trust  Him  for  it. 

2.  Remember  that  the  all-comprehensiue  blessing  of  thy  Melchizedek  in  heaven  is  the  Holy 
Spirit  from  heaven  in  thy  heart.  As  it  is  written  :  "Christ  redeemed  us,  that  the  blessing  of 
Abraham  might  come  upon  us,  in  Jesus  Christ ;  that  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit 
through  faith. "    The  Holy  Spirit  "abiding  continually  "  in  the  heart  is  the  high-priestly  blessing. 

3.  This  day  He  comes  to  meet  thee,  as  thou  returnest  from  the  battle  weary  and  faint.  Bow 
before  Him.  and  let  Him  bless  thee  .'  "Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day."  Believe  that  Jesus 
is  all  to  thee. 


Zbc  fbolicet  of  mi  235 


LI  I. 

MELCHIZEDEK  MORE  THAN  AARON  AND  THE  LAW- 

VII.— 11.  Now  if  there  was  perfection  through  the  Levitical  priesthood  (for 
under  it  hath  the  people  received  the  law),  what  further  need  was  there  that 
another  priest  should  arise  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  and  not  be 
reckoned  after  the  order  of  Aaron  P 

12.  For  the  priesthood  being  changed,  there  is  made  of  necessity  also  a 
change  of  the  law. 

13.  For  he  of  whom  these  things  are  said  belongeth  to  another  tribe, 
from  which  no  man  hath  given  attendance  at  the  altar. 

14.  For  it  is  evident  that  our  Lord  hath  sprung  from  Judah ;  as  to  which 
tribe  Moses  spake  nothing  concerning  priests. 

When  God,  in  Psalm  ex.,  spake  with  an  oath  of  a  priest  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,  it  was  a  prophecy  of  deep  spiritual 
meaning.  Why  should  the  order  of  Aaron,  whom  God  Himself 
had  called,  whose  work  took  such  a  large  place  in  the  purpose 
of  God  and  of  Scripture,  be  passed  over  for  the  order  of  another, 
of  whom  we  knew  nothing  save  one  single  act  ?  What  need 
was  there  that  another  priest  should  arise  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek,  and  not  be  reckoned  after  the  order  of  Aaron  ? 
The  answer  is,  Because  the  order  of  Aaron  was  only  the  figure 
of  the  work  of  Jesus  upon  earth;  for  His  eternal  and  almighty 
priesthood  in  heaven  something  more  was  needed. 

Let  us  see  and  grasp  this.  Aaron's  work  was  the  shadow 
of  Christ's  work  upon  earth,  of  sacrifice  and  blood-shedding,  of 
atonement  and  reconciliation  with  God.  Aaron  entered  indeed 
within  the  veil  with  the  blood,  in  token  of  God's  acceptance  of 


236  zbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll 


the  atonement  and  the  people.  Hut  he  mic^ht  not  tnir}-  there ; 
he  had  to  come  out  attain  at  once.  His  entering  only  once  a 
year,  and  that  only  for  a  few  moments,  served  mostly,  as  we 
see  in  chap.  ix.  7,  8,  to  teach  the  people  that  the  way  into 
the  Holiest  was  not  yet  opened  ;  that  for  this  they  would  have 
to  wait  till  another  dispensation  came.  Of  a  life  in  the  Holiest 
of  All,  of  a  dwelling  in  God's  presence,  and  fellowship  with  Him 
there,  of  a  communication  to  the  people  of  the  power  of  a  life 
within  the  veil, — of  all  this  there  was  no  thought.  The  glory  of 
Christ's  priesthood  consists  in  His  rending  the  veil  and  entering 
in  for  us :  of  His  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God  to  receive  and 
impart  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  powers  of  the  heavenly  life  ;  of 
His  being  able  to  bring  us  in,  that  we  too  may  draw  nigh  to 
God  ;  of  His  maintenance  in  us  of  the  life  of  heaven  by 
His  unceasing  intercession  and  ministry  in  the  power  of  an 
endless  life ;  of  all  this  the  ministry  of  Aaron  could  afford 
no  promise. 

It  was  in  all  this  that  Melchizedek  was  made  like  unto  the 
Son  of  God.  As  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  he  was  also 
king,  clothed  with  honour  and  [jower.  As  such  his  blessing 
was  in  power.  And  as  one,  of  whose  death  and  the  end  of  whose 
j)riesthood  Scripture  mentions  nothing,  and  who  abideth  con- 
tinually, he  is  the  image  of  the  eternal  priesthood,  which  is 
ministered  in  heaven,  in  eternity,  in  the  power  of  an  endless 
life. 

The  revelation  of  the  mystery  and  the  glory  of  the  Melchize- 
dek priesthood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  is  the  great  object  of  the 
Epistle.  And  I  cannot  urge  my  reader  too  earnestly  to  see  that 
he  enters  fully  into  the  infinite  difference  between  the  two 
orders  or  ministries  of  Aaron  and  Melchizedek.  The  a|jjjarently 
simple  question.  What  need  was  there  that  another  priest 


^be  Iboliest  of  BU  237 


should  arise  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  ?  has  more  to  do 
with  our  spiritual  life  than  we  think. 

In  the  opening  verses  of  our  Epistle  we  found  the  work  of 
Christ  divided  into  two  parts.  When  He  had  effected  the 
cleansing"  of  sins  (that  was  after  the  order  of  Aaron),  He  sat 
down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high  (that  was 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek).  There  are  too  many  Christians 
who  see  in  Christ  only  the  fulfilment  of  what  Aaron  typified. 
Christ's  death  and  blood  are  very  precious  to  them  ;  they  do 
seek  to  rest  their  faith  upon  them.  And  yet  they  wonder  that 
they  have  so  little  of  the  peace  and  joy,  of  the  purity  and  power 
which  the  Saviour  gives,  and  which  faith  in  Him  ought  to 
bring.  The  reason  is  simple,  because  Christ  is  only  their 
Aaron,  not  their  Melchizedek.  They  do  indeed  believe  that 
He  is  ascended  to  heaven,  and  sits  upon  the  throne  of  God  ;  but 
they  have  not  seen  the  direct  connection  of  this  with  their 
daily  spiritual  life.  They  do  not  count  upon  Jesus  working  in 
them  in  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life,  and  imparting  it  to  them. 
They  do  not  know  their  heavenly  calling,  with  the  all-sufficient 
provision  for  its  fulfilment  in  them  secured  in  the  heavenly  life 
of  their  Priest-King.  And,  as  a  consequence  of  this,  they  do 
not  see  the  need  for  giving  up  the  world,  to  have  their  life  and 
walk  in  heaven. 

The  work  of  redemption  was  accomplished  on  earth  in 
weakness  (2  Cor.  xiii.  4)  ;  it  is  communicated  from  heaven  in 
resurrection  and  ascension  power.  The  cross  proclaims  the 
pardon  of  sin  ;  the  throne  gives  the  power  over  sin.  The  cross, 
with  its  blood-sprinkling,  is  the  deliverance  from  Egypt ;  the 
throne,  with  its  living  Priest-King,  brings  into  the  rest  of  God 
and  its  victory.  With  Aaron  there  is  nothing  beyond  atone- 
ment and  acceptance  ;  nothing  of  kingly  rule  and  power  ;  it  is 


238  ^Lbc  t»clie0t  of  ail 


with  Melchizedek  that  the  fuhiess  of  power  and  blessing  comes, 
the  blessing  that  abideth  continually.  It  is  as  the  soul  no 
longer  ever  again  seeks  the  foundation,  but  resting  on  it  and  it 
alone,  is  built  up  into  Christ  Jesus,  the  perfected  and  exalted 
One,  that  it  will  be  delivered  from  its  feebleness,  and  know  the 
power  of  the  heavenly  life.  The  more  we  consider  and  adore 
our  blessed  King-Priest,  our  Melchizedek,  the  stronger  will  our 
confidence  become  that  from  His  throne  in  heaven  He  will,  in 
divine  power,  Himself  apply  to  us  all  the  blessed  fruits  of  His 
atonement,  and  make  a  life  in  God's  presence  and  nearness  our 
daily  experience. 

7,  When  He  had  effected  the  cleansing  of  our  sins — God  be  praised  for  our  Aartnl 
Glory  be  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  .'—He  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high  ! 
God  be  praised  for  our  Melchizedek .'  Glory  to  the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  thr(fhe  .'  The  Holiest 
is  now  opened,  with  our  great  High  Priest  to  bring  us  in  and  Iteep  us  there. 

2.  The  effecting  the  cleansing  of  sins  by  Jesus  preceded  the  sitting  on  the  throne.  But  the 
application  in  us  in  power  follows.  This  is  the  reason  why  we  are  here  first  taught  about  the 
High  Priest  in  heaven,  then  in  chap.  viii.  about  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  and  after  that  in  chap.  ix. 
about  the  power  of  the  blood  in  heaven,  and  from  heaven  in  us.  It  is  only  in  the  knowledge  of 
Jesus  in  heaven  we  shall  know  the  full  power  of  the  cleansing  blood. 

3.  Whereforr,  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  consider  Jesus  on  the  throne  in 
heaven  .'    The  worship  and  the  fellowship  of  a  heavenly  Christ  makes  heavenly  Christians. 


{Tbc  ibolicst  of  ail 


LIII. 

A  PRIEST  FOR  EVER-IN  THE  POWER  OF  AN  ENDLESS  LIFE. 

VII.— 15.  And  what  we  say  is  yet  more  abundantly  evident,  if  after  the 
likeness  of  Melchlzedek  there  ariseth  another  priest, 

16.  Who  hath  been  made,  not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment, 
but  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life. 

17.  For  it  is  witnessed  of  him. 

Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever 
After  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 

In  the  words  of  P.salm  ex.  each  expression  is  full  of  meaning. 
We  saw  (v.  4-6)  that  the  word,  Thou  art  Priest  is  the  proof 
that  Christ  did  not  glorify  Himself  to  become  Priest,  but  was 
appointed  of  God.  We  have  seen  the  deep  significance  of  the 
words,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  We  now  come  to 
what  is  implied  in  its  being  said,  Thou  art  a  Priest  for  ever. 

The  word  ever  or  eternal  is  one  of  the  most  important  in 
the  Epistle.  It  is  found  seventeen  times.  It  contains  all  that 
distinguishes  the  New  Testament  from  the  Old  ;  the  healthy- 
Christian  life  of  tJie  perfect,  from  the  stunted  sickly  growth  of 
the  babes.  To  understand  what  it  means  we  must  connect  it 
with  God,  the  eternal  One.  Eternity  is  an  attribute  of  Deity  and 
of  the  divine  life,  and  has  its  true  existence  only  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  that  life.  In  God  there  is  no  change,  or  ageing,  or 
fading ;  He  is  all  that  He  is  in  an  ever-fresh,  never-changing, 
youth.  As  some  one  has  said  :  "  He  is  the  Ancient  of  Days,  and 
yet  the  youngest  of  all,  for  He  lives  ever  in  the  freshness  of  the 


240  TLbc  tboUest  of  Bll 


eternal  strength  that  knows  no  past."  The  eternal  life  is  that 
which  always  remains  the  same,  because  it  is  always  in  God. 
And  when  God  speaks  to  His  Son,  Thou  art  Priest  for  ever, 
it  not  only  means  that  the  priesthood  will  never  cease,  but  it 
points  to  what  is  the  root  and  cause  of  this  ;  it  roots  in  the 
life  and  strength  of  God.  Christ  is  become  a  Priest  after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life.  Unceasingly,  without  one  moment's 
cessation,  in  unbroken  continuity,  He  lives  and  works  in  the 
power  of  the  divine  life. 

The  contrast  will  make  the  meaning  clear.  He  is  made 
Priest,  not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  as  Aaron, 
but  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  even  as  Melchi/.edek 
who  abideth  a  priest  continually.  Law  and  life  are  the 
contrasts.  Every  creature  naturally  acts  according  to  the  life 
that  is  iti  it,  without  any  law  or  compulsion  from  without.  The 
bird  needs  no  law  to  bid  it  fly,  or  the  fish  to  make  it  swim  :  its 
life  makes  it  a  delight.  A  law  is  a  proof  that  the  life  is  want- 
ing. The  law  that  forbids  stealing  is  a  proof  that  the  life  of 
those  for  whom  it  is  made  is  wrong.  And  a  law  is  not  only 
a  proof  that  the  right  life  is  wanting,  but  it  is  helpless  to 
produce  it.  It  may  check  and  restrain,  but  cannot  inspire.  It 
can  demand,  but  cannot  give  ;  it  has  power  to  command,  but 
not  to  create  what  it  seeks.  Aaron  became  priest  after  the  law 
of  a  carnal  commandment,  a  law  that  made  nothing  perfect,  and 
was  disannulled  for  the  weakness  and  unprofitableness  thereof; 
Christ,  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  Plvery  act  of  His 
holy  and  blessed  priesthood,  every  application  of  the  fruits  of 
His  eternal  redemption,  is  wrought  in  the  power  of  an  endless 
life. 

These  two   principles   mark   two  systems    of  religion,  two 
ways   of  worshipping  God,   two   experiences  of  the   inner   life. 


^bc  IboUeet  of  BU  241 


The  one  is  that  of  the  law,  with  atonement  and  acceptance 
with  God,  as  typified  in  Aaron.  The  Christian  trusts  in  Christ 
as  his  Redeemer,  and  seeks,  by  the  great  motive  of  gratitude,  to 
compel  himself  to  love  and  obedience.  His  life  is  one  of 
unceasing  effort.  But  he  is  painfully  conscious  of  failure ; 
obedience  is  not  his  life  and  delight.  The  New  Testament 
offers  a  better  life.  Through  unbelief  and  sloth  the  majority 
of  Christians  know  little  of  it.  But  here  it  is,  opened  up  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  as  the  mystery  of  Melchizedek.  Jesus  Christ  is 
become  a  Priest  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  These 
precious  words  are  the  key  to  the  higher  life.  Jesus  lives  in 
heaven  as  High  Priest  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  And  as 
He  lives,  so  He  works  in  that  power.  This  is  the  meaning  of 
His  being  a  Priest  for  ever.  His  work  does  not  consist,  like 
that  of  Aaron,  in  a  series  of  successive  acts,  that  ever  cease, 
and  ever  need  to  be  renewed.  No,  each  work  He  does  for  us 
He  is  able  to  do  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  He  works 
it  within  us  as  a  life,  as  our  own  life,  so  that  it  is  our  very  nature 
to  delight  in  God  and  in  His  will.  His  priesthood  acts  as  an 
inner  life  within  us,  lifting  us  up,  not  in  thought  but  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  into  a  vital  fellowship  with  God.  He  breathes 
His  own  life  in  us.  And  He  works  it  in  as  the  power  of  life,  a 
life  that  is  strong  and  healthy,  because  it  is  His  own  life  from 
heaven.  And  He  works  it  in  the  power  of  an  endless,  an 
indissoluble  life,  a  life  that  never  for  a  moment  need  know  a 
break  or  an  interruption,  because  it  is  the  life  of  eternity,  the 
life  maintained  in  us  by  Him  who  is  a  Priest  for  ever,  a  Priest 
who  abideth  continually. 

And  why  is  it  so  many  Christians  experience  and  prove  so 
little  of  this  power  of  the  endless,  the  unchanging  life  that  abides 
continually?     Some    know    nothing  of  it,   they  only  know    of 


16 


242  XLbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


Christ  as  Aaron.  And  some  hear  of  it  but  are  not  willing  to 
give  up  all  to  purchase  this  pearl  of  great  price  ;  to  give  up  the 
world  for  this  hca\enly  life.  And  some,  who  would  fain  give 
up  all,  cannot,  dare  not,  will  not,  believe  that  Christ  is  indeed 
Melchizedck,  a  Priest  for  ever,  a  Priest  who  does  everything  in 
eternal  life-power. 

He  abideth  a  Priest  continually.  The  continuity  of  His 
priesthood  is  never  interrupted  or  broken  ;  as  little  the  continuity 
of  the  action  of  His  priesthood  ;  as  little  the  experience  of  that 
action.  Everything  Christ  as  my  High  Priest  in  hea\en  does 
for  me  He  does  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  as  a  Priest  who 
abides  continually;  what  He  works  can  abide  continually  too. 
Oh  for  faith  to  consider  and  know  and  trust  Christ  Jesus, 
Priest  for  ever,  Priest  after  the  power  of  the  endless  life ! 

7.  The  power  of  an  endless  life.  There  is  not  a  more  significant  or  important  expression  in 
the  whole  Epistle.  It  is  life  we  need,  and  a  strong  life,  and  a  life  that  never  gives  way. 
Here  we  have  it— the  life  more  abundant. 

2.  We  shall  often  have  occasion  to  refer  to  these  words.  We  are  so  accustomed  to  think  of 
a  priest  as  a  man  who  does  certain  things  on  behalf  of  other  men,  separate  from  himself,  that 
we  apply  this  mode  of  thintiing  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  Christ  is  no  outward  Saviour,  nor  can  He 
give  us  any  salvation  as  an  outward  thing.  All  He  does  for  ui  and  to  us.  He  puts  into  our 
heart,  makes  it  our  life.  We  need  to  know  that  all  He  does  as  High  Priest  for  us  in  heaven. 
He  also  does  within  us  as  a  life  He  gives.  He  is  Priest,  and  can  save  in  no  other  way, 
than  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  It  is  only  as  a  life  within  us  that  His  priesthood  can 
attain  its  object. 

3.  desus  was  crucified  in  weakness,  but  raised  in  the  power  of  God.  He  won  the  power 
through  the  weakness,  the  sacrifice  of  all  unto  the  death.  Let  all  who  would  know  Him  in  the 
power  of  the  endless  life  enter  into  the  fellowship  of  His  death,  walk  in  deep  humility  and 
meekness  and  dependence  upon  God,  in  the  path  in  which  He  trod  to  reach  the  throne. 


Zbc  ibolfest  of  Bli  248 


LIV. 

A  BETTER  HOPE,  THROUGH  WHICH  WE  DRAW  NIGH  TO  GOD. 

VII.— 18  For  there  is  a  disannulling  of  a  foregoing  commandment  because 
of  its  weakness  and  unprofitableness 

19.  (For  the  law  made  nothing  perfect),  and  a  bringing  in  thereupon  of  a 
better  hope,  through  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God. 

In  ver.  12  we  read,  For  the  priesthood  being"  changed,  there 
is  made  of  necessity  a  change  also  of  the  law.  When  the 
order  of  Aaron  had  to  give  way  to  that  of  Melchizedek,  the 
law,  under  which  Aaron  had  ministered,  had  to  give  way  to  the 
new  order,  to  the  law  not  of  commandment,  but  to  the  law  of 
the  power  of  the  endless  life.  The  reason  of  this  is  now  given. 
There  is  a  disannulling-  of  the  foregoing  commandment,  be- 
cause of  its  weakness  and  unprofitableness,  for  the  law 
made  nothing  perfect.  Perfection  was  what  God  and  man 
sought  as  deliverance  from  sin  and  its  effects ;  perfect  restora- 
tion and  perfect  fellowship.  The  law  could  make  nothing 
perfect,  neither  the  conscience  nor  the  worshipper.  Jesus  came 
to  work  out,  and  reveal,  and  impart  that  perfection  the  law  could 
only  foreshadow. 

And  what  this  perfection  is,  we  are  now  told  :  "  There  is  a 
disannulling  of  the  commandment,  and  a  bringing  in  of  a 
better  hope,  through  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God."  To  bring 
man  nigh  to  God,  into  full  favour  and  actual  fellowship,  is  the 


244  TLbc  t)OUeet  ot  BlI 


object  of  every  priest.  Aaron  could  not  do  it  ;  Jesus  has  done 
it.  This  is  the  glory  of  the  New  Testament ;  it  brings  in  a 
better  hope,  a  real  drawing  nigh  to  the  living  God,  a  communion 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  with  Him.  This  is  the  perfection  which,  not 
the  law,  but  Jesus  gives.  In  chap.  vi.  hope  was  already  men- 
tioned as  that  through  which  we  enter  within  the  veil,  whither 
our  Forerunner  has  gone  for  us.  In  the  power  of  the  endless 
life  He  has  opened  the  veil  and  opened  the  way ;  He  has 
brought  in  the  better  hope  through  which  we  draw  nigh  to 
God. 

Draw  nigh  to  God !  This  expression  is  one  of  the  finger- 
posts on  the  way  to  the  higher  teaching  that  is  to  come.  It 
gives  us  the  main  object  of  Christ's  work  :  to  enable  us  to  liv^e 
our  life  in  the  nearness  of  God.  There  are  Christians  who,  in 
seeking  salvation,  only  think  of  themselves  and  their  own 
happiness  :  Christ  is  simply  a  means  to  an  end.  There  are 
others  who  go  farther :  they  feel  a  personal  relation  to  Christ, 
and  desire  greatly  to  know  and  serve  Him  better.  But  even  with 
these,  there  is  something  lacking  which  is  indispensable  to  a 
whole  and  vigorous  Christian  character.  They  do  not  know 
that  Christ  is  only  the  way,  the  door  to  the  Father,  and  that  His 
great  desire  is  to  lead  us  through  and  past  Himself  to  the 
Father,  really  to  bring  us  to  God  !  He  wants  us  to  live  the 
same  life  He  lived  upon  earth  —  always  looking  up  to,  de- 
pending upon,  and  honouring  a  God  in  heaven  above  Him. 

Draw  nigh  to  God  !  Nothing  but  this  can  satisfy  God  and 
His  love.  He  longs  to  have  His  children  come  to  dwell  in  that 
love,  and  to  delight  in  His  presence.  He  sent  His  Son  to 
bring  us  to  Him.  This  is  what  constitutes  full  salvation.  God 
as  the  author  of  our  being  longs  to  have  us  yield  ourselves  and 
wait  upon  Himself  to  work  His  work  in   us.     As  the  righteous 


tTbe  IboHest  ot  mi  245 


and  holy  One  He  seeks  to  have  us  wholly  given  up  to  His  will 
and  wisdom.  As  the  unseen  and  hidden  One,  He  asks  that  we 
should  withdraw  ourselves  from  the  visible  and  hold  fellowship 
with  Him.  Man  was  created  for  the  presence  of  God.  The 
nearness  of  God  was  to  be  his  native  atmosphere.  It  is  this 
God  is  willing  to  vouchsafe  to  each  of  us  ;  it  is  this  the  heavenly 
priesthood  makes  possible  ;  it  is  this  God  would  have  us  seek. 

As  God  is  no  outward  Being,  so  is  nearness  to  Him  nothing 
external,  but  an  inner  spiritual  harmony  of  disposition,  a 
fellowship  and  unity  of  will.  As  His  spirit  gives  us  more  of 
the  divine  nature,  and  God  works  His  will  more  freely  and 
fully  in  us,  we  come  nearer  to  Him,  we  become  truly  united 
to  Him. 

Draw  nigh  to  God!  Nothing  less  than  this  is  what  the 
redemption  of  Christ  has  won  and  set  open  for  us.  This  was 
the  weakness  of  the  law,  that  it  made  no  provision  for  God's 
people  entering  into  His  sanctuary.  His  immediate  presence. 
The  way  into  the  Holiest  has  been  opened  by  Jesus.  We  may 
boldly  enter  in  and  appear  before  God.  Seated  on  the  throne 
our  High  Priest  has  the  power  by  His  Holy  Spirit  to  make  the 
drawing  nigh  to  God  our  cojitinual  abiding  experience.  He  does 
this  in  the  power  of  the  endless  life.  Life  never  works  from 
without,  always  from  within.  Our  High  Priest  by  His  life-power 
enters  our  life,  and  renews  it,  and  lifts  it  up;  His  heavenly  life 
becomes  our  actual  life,  and  the  presence  of  God  surrounds  and 
shines  on  us  as  the  sunlight  shines  on  our  bodies.  He  is  able 
so  to  shed  abroad  the  love  of  God  in  our  hearts  that  His  presence 
is  our  joy  all  the  day. 

Draw  nig-h  to  God !  Nothing  less  than  this  must  be  what 
our  faith  claims.  The  redemption  in  Christ  is  so  perfect  and  all- 
prevailing,  His  salvation  so  complete,  the  power  of  His  life  in  us 


246  XLbc  IboKeat  of  ail 


so  heavenly  and  indissoluble,  the  action  of  His  priesthood  so 
unceasing  and  unbroken,  and  the  working  of  His  Spirit  so  sure 
and  so  divine,  that  it  is  indeed  possible  for  us  to  dwell  all  the 
day  in  the  enjoyment  of  God's  love  and  fellowship.  It  is  a 
life-state  He  has  entered  into,  has  opened  to  us,  and  lives  to 
keep  us  in.  Let  us  believe  it.  Yes,  let  faith  be  the  one  habit  of 
our  soul — a  faith  that  honours  our  King-Priest  on  the  throne  in 
expecting  from  Him  what  is  impossible  to  man,  what  is  possible 
only  to  God,  to  keep  our  hearts  all  the  day  within  the  veil  be- 
fore the  face  of  God. 

Christ  is  the  door.  The  door  of  what  ?  the  door  of  the 
heart  of  God.  Through  Him  I  can  enter  in  and  abide  in  God's 
love,  can  dwell  in  God  and  God  in  me.  He  is  the  living  door, 
who  takes  me  up,  and  brings  me  in  to  God.  He  does  it  most 
surely,  because  He  is  High  Priest  in  the  power  of  the  endless 
life. 

1.  A  life  nigh  to  God  :  This  is  the  better  hope,  which  enters  into  that  which  iswithinthe  veil. 
Hold  fast  the  glorying  of  this  hope.  Give  diligence  unto  the  fulness  of  the  hope  :  hope  maheth 
not  ashamed. 

2.  God  near,  the  world  far ;  the  world  near,  God  far.  Jesus  entered  the  presence  of  God  in 
the  path  which  He  opened  up  for  us.  That  path  was  humility  and  meekness,  obedience  and  death. 
It  cost  Jesus  entire  and  intense  self-surrender  to  open  the  path  and  enter  in.  He  has  won  for 
us  the  power  to  follow  Him,  and  communicates  it  to  all  upright  souls  in  the  power  of  an  endless 
life. 

3.  Nigh  to  God  !  Is  this  thy  life  ?  Is  this  thy  desire  ?  Is  this  thy  expectation  ?  It  is  the 
salvation  Christ  has  prepared  for  thee,  and  waits  to  give  thee. 


^be  1boHc6t  of  Bll  247 


LV. 

JESUS,  THE  SURETY  OF  A  BETTER  COVENANT. 

VII.— 20.  And  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  without  the  taking  of  an  oath 

21.  (For  they  indeed  had  become  priests  without  an  oath;  but  he  with  an 
oath  by  him  that  saith  of  him, 

The  Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent  himself, 
Thou  art  priest  for  ever) ; 

22.  By  so  much  also  has  Jesus  become  the  surety  of  a  better  covenant. 

In  chap.  vi.  the  deep  meaning  of  God's  oath  was  set  before  us. 
On  His  side  it  is  a  proof  of  His  unchangeable  purpose  concern- 
ing something  which  He  binds  Himself  faithfully  to  perform.  On 
our  side  it  points  to  something  in  which  there  is  special  need  of 
faith,  and  calls  us  to  the  exercise  of  full  and  unhesitating  confi- 
dence as  to  the  certainty  of  God's  fulfilment  of  the  promise.  In 
the  words  of  the  appointment  of  Christ  as  High  Priest  we  have 
already  found  three  significant  expressions — there  is  a  fourth 
one  we  are  now  to  notice.  The  Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent 
Himself:  this  oath  of  God  is  a  new  proof  of  the  glory  of  Christ's 
priesthood  and  its  superiority  to  the  old.  God  confirmed  His 
blessing  to  Abraham  with  an  oath ;  that  blessing  is  eternal  and 
unchangeable.  Aaron  was  made  a  priest  without  an  oath :  his 
priesthood  was  only  temporary,  a  shadow  of  what  was  to  come. 
At  the  first  announcement  of  a  priest  after  the  new  order,  God 
again  interposed  with  an  oath :  inasmuch  as  it  was  not 
without  the  taking  of  an  oath,  by  so  much  hath  Jesus  become 
the  surety  of  a  better  covenant.      The  oath  points   us  to 


248  trbe  IboKcst  of  Hll 


the  covenant,  to  its  being  a  better  covenant,  to  Jesus  being  its 
surety,  and  to  the  priesthood  as  that  in  which  the  covenant  and 
the  suretyship  have  their  power. 

A  better  covenant.  The  object  of  a  covenant  is  to  define 
and  settle  the  relation  between  the  two  parties  who  enter  into  it, 
and  to  give  security  for  the  faithful  fulfilment  of  their  engage- 
ments to  each  other.  The  old  covenant  which  God  made  with 
Israel  had  proved  a  failure.  At  its  establishment  they  were 
most  ready  to  promise,  All  that  the  Lord  hath  said  will  ivc  do 
and  be  obedient.  But  how  soon  was  the  covenant  forgotten 
and  the  promise  broken.  They  had  undertaken  what  they  could 
not  perform  ;  the  vow  and  the  purpose  availed  nothing  without 
the  strength.  In  course  of  time  God  promised  to  establish  a 
new  covenant,  and  in  it  to  provide  for  what  had  been  wanting,  for 
the  power  to  obey,  and  so  to  keep  the  covenant.  It  would  be  a 
covenant  of  life — giving  that  new  life  into  the  heart,  out  of  which 
obedience  would  naturally  spring.  Of  this  better  covenant, 
established  on  better  promises,  we  shall  hear  in  the  next  chapter. 

The  surety  of  a  better  covenant.  It  is  this  Jesus  has  come 
to  do,  to  give  the  covenant  its  security,  and  to  undertake  that 
its  engagements  shall  indeed  be  fulfilled.  He  is  surety  of  the 
covenant  on  both  sides.  Surety  to  us  that  God  will  keep  His 
promise,  and  give  us  His  life  and  law  and  Spirit  in  our  heart  ; 
surety  to  God  for  us.  He  will  ensure  our  obedience  and  our 
keeping  the  covenant. 

Become  a  Priest  with  an  oath.  It  is  in  the  priesthood  of 
Jesus  that  the  covenant  and  the  suretyship  have  their  power. 
It  is  the  Priest  for  ever  who  deals  with  sin  and  takes  it  away 
in  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  It  is  the  Priest  for  ever,  the  Son 
of  God,  perfected  for  evermore,  who  has  opened  a  new  and  living 
way,  a  new  state  of  life,  and  works  all  in  the  power  of  an  endless 


XLlic  IboUest  of  m\  249 


life,  in  whom  we  have  a  divine  surety  that  every  promise  and 
every  obligation  of  the  better  covenant  will  be  fulfilled  by  God 
and  by  us. 

It  is  to  give  us  a  living  and  most  complete  assurance  that 
all  this  will  be  so,  that  the  installation  of  Jesus  in  the  Priest's 
office  was  announced  by  an  oath  from  heaven.  God  does  so 
long  that  we  should  in  very  deed  become  to  the  full  partakers  of 
the  eternal  redemption  His  Son  has  obtained  for  us,  and  because 
He  sees  it  is  impossible  for  Him  to  work  out  His  will  in  us  except 
as  our  hearts  open  to  Him  in  faith  and  expectation,  He  is  ready 
to  do  anything  He  can,  to  awake  our  confidence  and  compel  us 
to  trust  Him  perfectly.  And  so  His  Spirit  reminds  us  that  the 
priesthood  of  Jesus,  and  all  the  blessings  which  come  from  it  in 
the  power  of  our  eternal  life,  are  absolutely  sure  and  certain. 
As  if  it  is  not  enough  that  we  know  that  as  the  Son  of  God  He 
is  the  Almighty  One,  as  Son  of  Man  the  merciful  and  faithful 
High  Priest,  as  the  exalted  One,  a  King  upon  God's  throne, 
God  calls  us  to  consider  the  oath  He  took.  He  swears  by 
Himself.  He  points  to  Himself  and  His  honour  as  God,  to 
Himself  as  the  Eternal  and  Almighty  God  and  charges  us 
to  believe  that  this  Priest  for  ever  He  has  given  us  does  indeed 
save  with  an  everlasting  salvation,  with  a  salvation  in  which 
the  power  of  eternity  works. 

When  God  confirmed  by  oath  to  Abraham  His  promise  of 
blessing,  Abraham,  though  he  knew  but  little  of  what  that 
blessing  would  yet  be,  believed  God  :  he  was  strong  in  faith, 
giving  glory  to  God.  And  we,  who  know  the  Son  in  whom  God 
has  now  revealed  Himself,  and  in  regard  to  the  efficacy  and 
eternal  life-power  of  whose  work  for  us  God  has  now  sworn  Plis 
oath  to  us,  shall  we  doubt  or  hesitate  ?  God  forbid  !  Oh  that 
our  hearts  were  opened  to  understand !     T/ie  one  tiling  God  asks  of 


250  Zbc  Ibolicst  ot  Bll 


//s,  IS  tJic  faitJi  that  sees  wJiat  He  has  promised  to  do,  and  tliat 
sinks  down  before  Him  to  let  Him  work  what  He  has  undertaken. 
The  one  thing  we  have  to  strive  after,  as  we  move  on  in  the 
path  the  Epistle  opens  up  to  the  inner  sanctuary,  is  that  our 
faith  stand  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  in  our  own  thoughts  of 
the  way  or  the  measure  in  which  God  will  fulfil  His  promise, 
but  only  and  entirely  in  the  power  of  God.  What  needed  an 
oath  of  God  to  assure  us  of  it,  needs  and  has  the  power  of 
God  to  work  it. 

/.  Do  hold  fast  these  two  things.  Faith  must  sec  what  God  promises,  and  then  allow 
God  to  fulfil  the  promise  in  us.  Pray  for  the  enlightening  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  get  delivered 
from  all  partial  and  defective  views  of  what  our  High  Priest  can  work  in  us,  and  then  regard  as 
your  highest  work,  to  wait  upon  God  and  yield  to  His  operation  in  adoring  trust. 

2.  The  content  and  substance  of  the  oath  of  Gnd  is,  the  living  personal  Christ,  as  Son  and 
Priest ;  that  is,  as  Priest  in  the  power  of  the  divine  and  eternal  life  which  He  imparts.  He  that 
clings  to  Christ  will  be  led  on  to  know  all  that  God  has  promised  in  Him. 


Zbe  Ibolfcst  of  Bll  251 


LVI. 

A  PRIEST,  ABLE  TO  SAVE  COMPLETELY. 

VII— 23.  And  tliey  indeed  have  been  made  priests  many  in  number,  be- 
cause that  by  death  they  are  liindered  from  continuing : 

24.  But  he,  because  he  abideth  for  ever,  hath  his  priesthood  unchangeable. 

25.  Wherefore  also  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  i  them  that  draw 
near  unto  God  through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them. 

In  the  order  of  Aaron  there  was  a  continual  succession  of 
priests,  one  dying  and  another  taking  his  place.  That  charac- 
terised the  whole  system  ;  it  bore  the  mark  of  change  and 
weakness  and  death.  It  could  not  effect  anything  that  was 
really  abiding  and  permanent,  much  less  anything  that  was 
eternal.  The  whole  inner  life  of  the  worshipper  was  what  the 
system  was,  subject  to  change  and  decay.  But  He,  because  He 
abideth  for  ever,  hath  His  priesthood  unchangeable.  He 
Himself  is  the  Eternal  One,  who  abideth  Priest  for  ever.  His 
priesthood  is  unchangeable  ;  the  life,  in  the  power  of  which  He 
ministers,  and  the  life  which  He  ministers,  is  a  life  that  abides 
unchangeable  too.  His  priesthood  is  an  everlasting  one,  ever 
living,  ever  active. 

Wherefore  also  He  is  able  to  save  completely  them  that 
draw  near  unto  God  through  Him.  Wherefore,  that  is  because 
He  abideth  for  ever,  because  there  is  never  a  single  moment  in 

'  Completely. 


252  zbc  fboUcst  of  Bll 


which  His  priestly  action,  His  watchful  care  of  us,  His  loving 
sympathy  and  succour,  His  working  in  us  in  the  power  of  our 
endless  life,  is  not  in  full  operation.  Therefore  He  can  save 
completely,  that  is,  there  need  never  be  a  moment  in  which  the 
experience  of  His  saving  power  is  intermitted,  in  which  the 
salvation  He  has  wrought  does  not  save.  To  confirm  this,  it  is 
added,  seeing  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 
Without  ceasing  there  streams  forth  from  Him  to  the  Father  the 
prayer  of  H  is  love  for  every  one  and  every  need  of  those  that 
belong  to  Him  ;  His  very  person  and  presence  is  that  prayer,  so 
closely  and  so  inseparably  is  He  identified  with  those  He  calls 
His  brethren.  And  without  ceasing  there  streams  forth  to 
Him  from  the  Father  the  answer  of  His  good  pleasure,  and 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bearing  that  answer.  And 
even  so,  without  ceasing,  there  streams  forth  from  Him  to  each 
member  of  His  body  the  grace  for  the  timely  help.  Because 
He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession,  without  one  moment's 
intermission,  therefore  He  is  able  to  save  completely. 

He  is  able  to  save  completely.  The  connection  of  the 
jM-omise  with  the  character  and  work  of  Christ  shows  us  what  it 
means.  The  great  complaint  of  Christians  is  that  their  ex- 
perience is  so  changeful — that  the  blessed  sense  of  God's  love 
and  grace  passes  away,  and  that  what  they  know  of  the  keeping, 
cleansing,  power  of  Christ  does  not  last  ;  the  sense  of  nearness 
to  God  does  not  abide  continually.  It  is  somehow  as  if  there 
is  a  necessity  of  its  being  lost.  With  change  of  circumstances, 
alas,  comes  too  often  change  in  the  nearness  of  God  and  His 
saving  power.  Could  what  Christ  does  for  them  at  times  but 
be  maintained  continuously,  could  it  but  abide, — their  joy  would 
be  full,  their  salvation  complete.  We  have  here  the  very 
promise  such  Christians  need.      Because  he  abideth  for  ever, 


trbc  Iboliest  of  mi  253 


because  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession,  because  He  is 
a  Priest  for  ever,  who  exercises  every  function  of  His  office  in 
an  endless  lifc-pozver,  that  never  for  a  moment  intermits  its 
action,  He  is  able  to  save  completely.  In  Himself  He  has 
been  perfected  for  evermore,  with  Himself  He  hath  perfected, 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  The  salvation  He  has 
wrought  out  is  a  life  in  the  opened  sanctuary  of  God's  presence 
in  the  power  of  God's  Spirit ;  all  that  is  needed  is  that  the 
believer  be  kept  abiding  for  ever,  ever  living  in  this  salvation-life 
which  Jesus  has  opened  up.  And  this  he  can  do,  when  once  he 
learns  to  trust  to  Jesus  for  it,  because  he  understands  that  He  ever 
liveth  to  make  intercession.  He  prayed  for  Peter  that  his  faith 
might  not  fail.  Because  His  work  of  intercession  never  pauses 
or  ceases,  our  faith  and  our  experience  of  the  power  of  that 
intercession  need  never  fail.     He  is  able  to  save  completely ! 

Them  that  draw  near  unto  God  through  Him.  In  ver.  19 
we  saw  that  to  enable  us  to  draw  nigh  to  God  is  the  better  hope 
the  gospel  brings — the  one  aim  of  Christ's  priesthood.  Here 
we  have  it  again.  One  reason  why  so  many  have  no  conception 
of  Christ  as  able  to  save  completely  is  simply  that  they  have 
never  understood  fully  what  salvation  is.  The  following  chapters 
will  open  it  up  to  us — and  may  God's  Spirit  truly  open  it ! — that 
to  come  to  God  through  Christ,  to  draw  nigh  to  God  means 
nothing  less  than  an  entering  into  the  Holiest  of  All,  and  dwelling 
there  all  the  day,  spending  our  life  there,  abiding  there  con- 
tinually. It  is  only  those  who  believe  it  possible,  will  give 
themselves  up  to  it.  It  is  only  those  who  forsake  all  to  give 
themselves  up  to  it  to  whom  it  will  be  possible.  But  for  all 
who  come  to  God  through  Him  the  promise  is  sure  :  He  abideth 
for  ever  ;  He  is  able  to  save  completely. 

Oh,  let  us  fix  our  eyes  and  hearts  on  Jesus  in  heaven,  our 


264  Zbc  -toolicet  of  ail 


Melchizedck,  our  Priest-King  on  the  throne  of  power,  and  on 
His  unceasing  intercession.  And  let  our  one  desire  be  to 
believe  that  the  God  who  hath  sworn  by  Himself,  by  His  own 
life  as  God,  means  to  do  for  us  something  above  all  we  can  ask 
or  think. 

7.  Able  to  save  completely.  This  is  that  solid  food  for  the  perfect  which  only  the  truly 
consecrated  soul  can  apprehend.  It  is  of  the  things  "hard  of  interpretation,  seeing  ye  are 
become  dull  of  hearing. " 

2.  Like  priest,  like  peopie.  The  character  of  a  priest  determines  the  character  of  the 
people  whose  worship  he  leads.  The  character  of  Christ's  priesthood  determines  the 
character  of  those  who  belong:  to  Him.  And  our  uiew  of  what  that  priesthood  can  effect 
will  determine  our  religious  character.  Of  what  infinite  importance  to  worship  and  to  trust 
Him,  as  able  to  save  completely.     That  will  determine  our  Christian  character  and  life. 

3.  What  a  uiew  of  the  place  and  power  of  intercession  !  Christ's  whole  life  is  giuen  up  to 
it.  His  power  as  Priest-King  en  the  throne  has  no  other  channel  for  its  exercise.  You  long 
to  save  others.  Giue  yourself  to  prayer  and  intercession.  Present  yourself  before  God  as  a 
sacrifice  for  your  fellowmen,  offering  to  be  filled  with  His  Spirit  and  consumed  by  His  fire. 
Count  intercession  the  secret  of  bringing  down  the  blessing  of  heaven.  Connect  the  two  things 
inseparably  together — unceasing  intercession  and  power  to  save  completely  in  Christ.  Complete 
salvation  and  unceasing  intercession  in  us. 


ZbC  IbOliCSt  of  ail  265 


LVII. 

SUCH  A  HIGH  PRIEST,  THE  SON  PERFECTED  FOR  EVERMORE. 

VII.— 26.  For  such  a  High  Priest  became  us,  holy,  guileless,  undefiled, 
separated  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens ; 

27.  Who  needeth  not  daily,  like  those  high  priests,  to  oifer  up  sacrifices, 
first  for  his  own  sins,  and  ;then  for  the  sins  of  the  people :  for  this  he  did 
once,  when  he  offered  up  himself. 

28.  For  the  law  appointeth  men  high  priests,  having  infirmity;  but  the 
word  of  the  oath,  which  was  after  the  law,  appointeth  a  Son,  perfected 
for  evermore. 

For  such  a  High  Priest  became  us — was  suited  to  us,  as 
being  what  we  needed.  The  words  refer  to  the  whole  chapter, 
but  specially  to  the  verse  that  just  precedes — such  a  High 
Priest,  one  \\'ho  abideth  for  ever,  one  who  is  able  to  save 
completely.  It  also  refers  to  what  now  follows,  in  which  His 
personal  characteristics  are  summed  up.  Holy,  in  fellowship  and 
harmony  with  God ;  guileless,  in  the  purity  of  His  disposition  ; 
undefiled,  in  His  having  conquered  all  temptation  from  sin 
and  the  world  ;  separated  from  sinners,  a  true  I\lan  among 
men,  and  yet  one  who  had  kept  Himself  free  from  their  sin  ; 
made  higher  than  the  heavens,  now  exalted  in  the  glory  of 
God,  to  communicate  to  us  the  life  and  the  blessings  of  the 
heavenly  world. 

Who  needeth  not  daily  like  those  high  priests,  to  offer 
up  sacrifices,  first  for  His  own  sins,  and  then  for  the  sins 
of  the  people ;  for  this  He  did  once,  when  He  offered  up 


266  Zbe  -boltest  of  Bll 


Himself.  We  saw  that  the  glory  of  Christ's  priesthood,  in 
contrast  with  that  of  the  many  who  had,  by  reason  of  death,  to 
succeed  each  other,  was,  that  He  alone  is  Priest,  because  He 
abideth  ever.  Here  we  have  the  same  truth  from  another  side  : 
in  contrast  with  the  daily  ever-repeated  sacrifices,  He  accom- 
plished all  when  He  offered  Himself  once.  That  which  has 
to  be  repeated  is  imperfect ;  that  which  need  be  done  only  once 
is  perfect  and  lasts  for  ever.  Farther  on  we  shall  find  the  word 
once  again,  as  having  the  same  meaning  with  regard  to  His 
.sacrifice  which /<7r  ^7^;' has  with  regard  to  His  priesthood. 

He  offered  up  Himself  We  have  here  the  first  mention  of 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  In  chap.  ii.  we  had  mention  of  His 
death,  here  we  see  that  it  was  death  upon  the  altar.  He  is 
both  Priest  and  Victim.  His  divine  priesthood,  as  it  is 
exercised  in  heaven,  is  the  application  of  the  blood  and  the 
virtue  of  that  sacrifice  which  He  brought  upon  earth.  The 
once  for  all  o{  the  sacrifice  is  the  counterpart  of  the  Jienceforth 
for  ever  of  the  throne  of  the  heavens. 

For  the  law,  this  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole,  appointeth 
men  high  priests,  having  infirmity;  but  the  word  of  the 
oath,  which  was  after  the  law,  appointeth  a  Son,  perfected 
for  evermore.  The  law  was  a  preparation,  to  waken  the  need 
and  the  hope,  of  that  true,  supernatural,  heavenly  communion 
with  God,  which  should  be,  not  in  words  or  wishes,  but  in  the 
power  of  the  eternal  life.  What  the  law  could  not  do,  God 
hath  done,  appointing  as  High  Priest,  the  Son,  perfected  for 
evermore. 

In  these  last  words  we  have  the  summing  up  of  the  whole 
preceding  teaching  of  the  Epistle.  In  chap.  i.  it  had  spoken  of 
the  Son  of  God  and  His  glory :  He  came  from  God,  He  is  God, 
and  has  the  life  of  God  in   Him  ;  He  is  able  to  bring  us  near. 


Ilbe  Iboliest  of  ail  257 


into  the  true  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  very  life  of  God. 
In  chaps,  ii.-v.  we  had  His  humanity,  His  being  made  perfect 
through  suffering  and  obedience.  He  so  perfected  a  new  human 
nature,  which  from  heaven  He  imparts  to  us  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  chap.  vii.  we  have  now  been  taught 
what  it  means  that  He  is  the  Priest  for  ever,  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek,  whose  person  and  priesthood  and  work  are  all  in 
the  power  of  the  endless  life,  and  who,  because  He  ever  abideth 
and  ever  intercedeth,  is  able  to  save  completely,  and  to  make 
our  drawing  nigh  to  God  a  life  that  abides  continually.  Such  a 
High  Priest  became  us,  the  Son,  perfected  for  evermore. 

And  if  such  a  High  Priest  became  us,  what  becomes  us  now 
towards  Him  ?  Surely  one  thing,  that  we  fully  seek  to  know 
and  to  trust  and  to  experience  His  saving  power.  If  your  heart 
does  indeed  long  for  deliverance  from  sin,  for  true  near  fellow- 
ship with  God,  for  complete  salvation,  for  a  life  in  the  power 
and  the  likeness  of  the  Son  of  God,  our  Leader  and  Forerunner 
within  the  veil — you  must  Icarii  to  know  Jesus  both  as  Son  of 
God  and  your  High  Priest.  You  must  pray  for  the  Spirit  of 
wisdom  and  revelation,  that  you  may  know  the  exceeding 
greatness  of  God's  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to 
the  working  of  His  mighty  power  in  Christ  Jesus,  when  He 
raised  Him  from  the  dead  and  set  Him  at  His  own  right  hand. 
You  must  believe  that  the  mighty  power  by  which  He  was 
thus  perfected  for  evermore,  and  is  seated  at  God's  right  hand, 
is  working  in  you.  Yield  yourself  up  in  faith  to  this  mighty 
working  of  God  in  Christ,  to  the  power  of  the  eternal  life  with 
which  from  heaven  He  will  work  in  you  to  draw  you  nigh  to 
God,  and  keep  you  there.  As  you  believe  this,  and  trust  Jesus 
for  it.  He  Himself  will  make  it  your  experience.  Oh  beware 
of  thinking  that  these  are  beautiful  words  and  images  that 
17 


258  zbc  -fbolicet  of  ail 


Scripture  gives  ;  they  are  meant  by  God  as  the  most  downright 
actual  realities  for  daily  life  and  walk.  God  has  given  you  such 
a  High  Priest  that  you  might  live  an  impossible  life,  a  life 
above  sense  and  reason,  a  supernatural  life  in  the  power  of  His 
Son.  When  Jesus  ascended  the  throne  His  disciples  were  to 
wait  for  a  communication  direct  from  Himself  of  the  spirit  and 
power  of  the  heavenly  life  into  which  He  had  entered  for  them. 
It  is  the  same  Holy  Spirit,  dwelling  in  us  in  Pentecostal  power, 
who  alone  can  make  all  the  blessed  objective  truth  of  the 
Epistle  a  living  reality  within  us. 

1.  Ere  we  part  from  this  chapter  note  well  the  three  words  in  which  its  practical  teaching 
gathers  up  what  our  Mclchizedeh,  who  abideth  a  priest  continually,  is  to  us.  The  law  of  His 
working  is  :  He  does  all  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  The  object  of  His  work  :  the  better 
hope,  by  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God.  The  measure  of  His  work :  able  to  save  completely. 
The  power  of  eternal  life,  the  nearness  of  God,  and  complete  salvation  are  what  He  has  to 
bestow. 

2.  The  eternal  priesthood  of  Christ:  this  is  the  first  of  the  perfection  truths  that  lead  us  to 
the  perfection  life.  A  Son,  perfected  for  evermore,  is  our  High  Priest,  who  out  of  Himself 
and  in  Himself  glues  us  the  life  we  are  to  Hue. 

3.  The  one  thought  of  God  in  His  word  here  is  to  make  us  feel  what  a  complete  salvation 
there  is  for  us  with  such  a  Sauiour.  God  speaks  to  us  in  His  Son,  giving  us  in  Him  His  own 
life. 


ttbe  Iboliest  of  ail  259 


SIXTH   SECTION.-viii.  1-13. 
The  New  Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant. 


LVIII. 

THE   PRIEST-KING   ON   THE    THRONE    IN   THE   HEAVENS. 

VIII.— 1.  Now  in  the  things  we  are  saying  the  chief  point  is  this:  We 
have  suoh  a  high  priest,  who  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
the  Majesty  in  the  heavens. 

In  every  pursuit  it  is  always  most  important  to  keep  the  eye 
fixed  on  that  which  is  the  main  thing,  and  to  make  everything 
else  subservient  to  it.  A  Christian  often  feels  perplexed  by  the 
variety  of  truths  and  duties  set  before  him  in  Scripture ;  to  see 
clearly  what  the  central  thought  is,  is  like  finding  the  key  to 
some  building  round  which  one  had  vainly  wandered  seeking  an 
entrance.  Our  author  here  is  careful  in  summing  up  what  we 
have  had  thus  far,  to  fix  our  view  on  what  is  the  chief  point — 
We  have  such  a  High  Priest,  as  has  been  set  before  us,  the  very 
Son  of  God,  a  true  Man  in  His  obedience  to  God  and  sympathy 
with  us,  become  a  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  in  the 
power  of  an  endless  life.  And  we  have  Him  as  one  who  sat 
down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the 
heavens.  It  is  as  our  faith  apprehends  and  holds  this  truth 
that  we  have  the  key  which  opens  the  door  into  the  heavenly 
life  upon  earth. 


260  ^be  l>oUest  ot  Bii 


Jesus  our  Priest-King    on    the  throne   in  the    heavens. 

What  does  this  mcun,  and  tcacli,  and  give?  It  reminds  of  this, 
first  of  all,  that  Jesus  is  not  only  JViest  but  King.  This  was 
part  of  what  was  inckided  in  His  appointment  after  the  order 
of  Melchizedek,  whose  name  meant  King  of  righteousness,  and 
who  was  King  of  Salem,  that  is  King  of  peace.  The  Psalm  in 
which  the  word  of  the  oath  is  spoken  began  thus :  The  Lord 
said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand.  In  Israel  the 
office  of  king  and  priest  had  ever  been  kept  separate  ;  it  was 
only  one  of  the  latest  prophets  who  foretold  (Zech.  vi.  1 3)  :  He 
shall  be  a  priest  upofi  the  throne.  It  was  part  of  the  defect  in 
the  character  of  the  preparatory  dispensation  that  the  function 
of  priest,  the  representative  of  the  religious  life,  should  be  .so 
distinct  from  that  of  the  king,  the  guide  of  the  civil  life  of  the 
people.  The  priest  represents  purity,  the  king  power  ;  it  is  the 
glory  of  the  new  dispensation  that  the  Priest  is  King — the 
cleansing  from  sin.  and  the  access  to  God  which  that  gives,  is 
all  in  a  power  that  goes  through  the  whole  life.  Religion  is  no 
longer  to  be  a  thing  of  times  and  .seasons,  of  special  acts  or  emo- 
tions :  in  kingly  power  our  High  Priest  rules  over  all.  Blessed 
is  the  man  to  whom  it  is  given  t(^  see  that  this  is  the  chief  point, 
that  this  is  all. 

And  that,  because  He  is  a  King  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens.  The  Son  of  God 
became  Man  that  1  le  might  win  for  Himself  and  us,  for  humanity, 
His  own  and  ours,  the  power  He  had  with  the  P^ithcr  before  the 
world  began,  and  so  as  our  High  Priest  serve  and  rule  us  in  the 
power  of  an  endless  life,  in  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life.  He 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne.  His  position  is 
now  one  of  perfect  fellowshi]3  with  God.  in  a  nearness  in  which 
nothing  can  intervene,  in  an  equality  which  gives  Him  complete 


Zbc  IboUcst  of  Bll  261 


possession  and  disposal  of  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 
This  is  the  chief  point  to  know  in  faith,  that  we  have  such  a 
High  Priest ! 

On  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens.  We  have 
said  before  that  the  great  characteristic  of  our  Priest-King,  of 
His  salvation  and  His  life,  is  its  heavenliness.  It  will  reward 
the  reader  each  time  the  thought  occurs,  to  go  over  the  passages 
we  have  marked,  and  seek  to  come  fully  under  the  power  of  the 
thought.  Jesus  is  passed  through  the  heavens,  made  higher 
than  the  heavens,  seated  on  the  throne  in  the  heavens,  in 
order  that  He  might  open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  us.  Heaven, 
we  have  said  before,  is  not  only  a  place,  but  a  state  of  life  ;  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  can  come  to  us  here  on  earth  in  power,  and 
be  set  up  within  our  hearts.  The  will  of  God  can  be  done  on 
earth  as  in  heaven.  All  Jesus  is,  is  heavenly ;  all  the  gifts  He 
bestows,  all  the  work  He  does,  all  the  life  He  breathes,  all  the 
power  He  exercises  is  exclusively  heavenly.  This  is  the  solid 
food  for  the  perfect ;  as  our  faith  receives  and  feeds  upon  this, 
it  becomes  partaker  of  the  very  spirit  of  heaven,  in  the  power 
of  an  endless  life.  As  the  heavenliness  of  the  redemption  and 
the  life  in  Jesus  is  revealed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart, 
heavenliness,  its  purity,  its  power,  its  love,  its  worship,  its 
blessedness,  will  be  the  characteristic  of  our  religion. 

He  sat  down  on  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens. 
We  know  how  to  the  first  disciples  this  blessed  truth  was 
revealed  and  sealed — it  was  by  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  down  from 
heaven.  The  Spirit  of  heaven  is  the  Spirit  in  the  power  of 
which  the  angels  do  God's  will  there.  The  Spirit  of  heaven  is 
the  Spirit  which  came  down  from  the  opened  heaven  on  the  Son 
of  Man.  The  Spirit  of  heaven  was  sent  down  to  His  disciples 
by  the  Son  of  Man,  when  He  had  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of 


262  Zbc  Iboliest  of  ail 


the  throne  in  the  heavens,  as  their  share  in  His  exaltation  ;  not 
as  the  Spirit  of  conversion,  but  as  the  Spirit  to  seal  their  faith  ; 
as  their  experience  of  fellowship  with  Him  in  His  glory  ;  as  their 
participation  in  the  joy  and  holiness  of  the  heavenly  life ;  as 
their  power  to  conquer  sin  and  the  world.  To  those  who  are 
willing  to  come  and  be  separate  and  utterly  forsake  this  world, 
this  Spirit  of  hea\'en  still  comes  as  the  gift  of  our  heavenly 
Priest-King.  Let  us  believe  the  Word,  let  us  cling  to  Him  and 
worship  Him  as  seated  on  the  throne  in  the  heavens  ;  it  will 
become  our  blessed  heart  experience,  not  only  that  this  is  the 
chief  point.  Such  a  High  Priest  became  us,  but  that  zue  have, 
— yes,  not  only  in  thought,  in  gift,  but  in  living  enjo)'ment, — we 
have  such  a  High  Priest,  who  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens. 

7.  The  spirit  of  a  king  imparts  itself  to  his  subjects.  As  he  devotes  himself  to  war  or  peace, 
to  noble  pursuits  or  to  luxury  and  pleasure,  his  example  leads  his  people.  Perfect  heavenliness, 
heauenly  perfection,  is  the  mark  of  our  King  ;  it  is  meant  to  be  the  mark  of  His  people.  The  true 
knowledge  of  a  heavenly  Christ  makes  a  heavenly  Christian. 

2.  "  Our  Forerunner  has  carried  away  our  hearts  with  Him.  We  have  no  heart  left  for  any 
one  but  Him,  or  for  anything  without  or  within  the  veil  that  He  is  not,  or  is  not  in. " 

3.  Ever  connect  Christ's  entering  the  heavenly  life  and  His  ascendimj  the  throne  with 
the  descent  of  the  Spirit  to  be  the  life  of  the  disciples.  And  remember  that  all  our  knowledge 
and  faith  in  the  Priest-King  is  only  preparatory  to  the  true  blessing-  the  Holy  Spirit  revealing 
Him  and  making  Him  present  in  the  heart.     Ascension  and  Pentecost  are  in.ieparable. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  au  263 


LIX. 

THE  PRIEST-KING,  THE  MINISTER  OF  THE  TRU"E  SANCTUARY 

VIII.— 1.  Now  in  the  tilings  whicli  we  are  saying  the  chief  point  is  this : 
We  have  such  a  high  priest,  who  sat  down  on  the  right  liand  of  the  throne 
of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens, 

2.  A  minister  of  tlie  sanctuary,  and  of  the  true  tabernacle,  which  the  Lord 
pitched,  not  man. 

3.  For  every  high  priest  is  appointed  to  offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices : 
wherefore  it  is  necessary  that  this  High  Priest  also  have  somewhat  to  offer. 

4.  Now  if  he  were  on  earth,  he  would  not  be  a  priest  at  all,  seeing  there 
are  those  who  offer  the  gifts  according  to  the  law ; 

5.  Who  serve  that  which  is  a  copy  and  shadow  of  the  heavenly  things, 
even  as  Moses  is  warned  of  God  when  he  is  about  to  make  the  tabernacle : 
for.  See,  saith  he,  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  which 
was  shewed  thee  in  the  mount. 

The  chief  point  is  this :  We  have  such  a  High  Priest,  who  sat 
down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the 
heavens.  Thus  the  writer  had  summed  up  his  teaching.  He 
has  now  one  more  thought  to  add,  revealing  still  more  distinctly 
and  fully  the  work  our  Lord  does  for  us  in  heaven.  He  is  a 
Minister  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  the  true  tabernacle,  which 
the  Lord  pitched,  not  man.  The  heavens,  with  the  heavenly 
life  of  Christ  there,  are  here  shown  to  be  the  true  counterpart  of 
the  tabernacle  Moses  built,  and  He,  the  Priest-King  on  the 
throne,  is  seen  to  be  the  Minister  of  the  sanctuary,  of  the  true 
tabernacle  which  God  pitched  and  not  man. 

He  then  proceeds  to  remind  us,  that  as  every  high  priest  is 


264  Zbc  Ibollcet  of  ail 


appointed  to  offer  gifts  and  sacrifices,  so  Christ  must  have  some- 
thing to  offer  too.  Now  if  He  were  on  earth,  He  would  not  be  a 
priest  at  all,  seeing  there  are  priests  according  to  the  law,  Christ 
belongs  to  an  entirely  different  sphere.  With  the  body  which  He 
offered  on  earth,  and  the  blood  Me  shed,  He  has  passed  away 
out  of  the  visible  into  the  invisible  realm  of  spiritual  worship 
and  life.  Heaven  is  the  sphere  of  His  ministry.  When  God 
said  to  Moses,  to  make  all  according  to  the  pattern  showed  him 
in  the  mount,  to  serve  as  a  shadow  of  the  heavenly  things  ;  in 
the  very  appointment  of  the  tabernacle,  there  was  the  indication 
that  it  was  but  a  copy  and  promise  of  the  true  tabernacle,  with 
its  heavenly  sanctuary.  The  heavens  where  Jesus  sits  on  the 
throne,  they  are  the  true  tabernacle;  and  the  High  Priest  on 
the  throne  is  at  the  same  time  the  Minister  of  the  sanctuary. 

A  Minister  of  the  sanctuary.  The  King  is  still  a  servant. 
All  the  ministry  or  service  of  the  priests  in  the  tabernacle  had 
its  fulfilment  in  Him.  The  priests  served  in  the  tabernacle  day 
by  day,  ordered  everything  for  the  service  of  God  according  to 
His  will ;  as  representatives  of  the  people  they  received  the 
assurance  of  God's  favour,  and  brought  them  out  God's  blessing. 
Jesus  is  the  Minister  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary. ^.  1  le  represents  us 
there.  He  has  opened  up  the  way,  and  brought  us  in,  and  sends 
dow  n  into  our  hearts  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  true  sanctuary  ; 
without  ceasing  He  maintains  the  cleansing  of  His  precious 
blood  in  our  conscience,  and,  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life, 
enables  us  to  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and  to  live  our 
earthly  life  in  the  presence  and  the  favour  of  God.  As  the 
exalted  Priest-King  He  does  it  all  in  an  infinite,  a  divine  power. 
As  the  Minister  of  the  sanctuary,  He  does  it  with  all  the  sympathy 
and  the  gentle  forbearance  which  we  liave  seen  to  mark  Him  as 
made  like  to  His  brethren  in  all  things. 


ZbC  IbOKCSt  of  ail  265 


A  priest  must  have  a  sanctuary  in  which  he  dwells,  to  receive 
all  who  come  to  seek  his  God.  Our  great  High  Priest  has  His 
sanctuary  in  the  heavens  ;  there  He  dwells,  there  we  find  Him  ; 
there  He  receives  us,  there  He  introduces  us  to  meet  God ;  there 
He  proves  that  He  is  a  Priest  who  abides  continually,  and  who 
gives  those  who  come  to  God  through  Him  the  power  to  do  it 
too — to  abide  continually  in  His  presence.  The  nearness  to 
God  and  fellowship  with  Him  I  cannot  partake  of  except  ! 
through  my  heart.  My  heart  is  my  life,  is  myself;  my  only  J 
blessedness  is  in  the  state  of  the  heart.  And  therefore  Jesus  as  ' 
High  Priest  cannot  do  His  priestly  work  of  bringing  me  near 
to  God  except  as  He  dwells  in  my  heart  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  All  our  thought,  and  faith,  and  adoration  of  Him 
in  heaven  brings  us  back  to  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  the 
mystery — Christ  in  you.  He  is  Priest  after  the  power  of  an 
endless  life,  a  Priest  whose  presence  and  power  are  known  and 
enjoyed  in  the  life  of  the  heart. 

These  are  indeed  spiritual  mysteries  of  which  we  speak — 
things  hard  to  be  understood  of  those  who,  through  sloth  or 
worldliness,  are  dull  of  hearing.  Oh,  let  us  not  imagine  that  these 
are  things  which  reason  can  grasp  or  hold  ;  they  are  a  supernatural 
wisdom,  a  divine  revelation  which  none  can  receive  but  those  who 
receive  it  from  the  Spirit  of  God.  Let  us  remember  that  it  is 
God,  who  has  pitched  this  tabernacle  ;  that  it  cost  the  Son  of 
God  a  life  of  humility  and  suffering,  cost  Him  His  death  and 
blood,  to  open  it  for  us  ;  that  it  needed  the  almighty  power  of 
God  in  the  resurrection  and  ascension  to  bring  Him  there;  that 
it  needed  ten  days  unceasing  prayer,  and  the  coming  down  of 
the  blessed  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  before  the  High  Priest  could 
impart  even  to  His  elect  circle  the  power  of  the  life  within  the 
veil.    And  let  us  then  pause  to  think  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  most 


268  zbe  -tooucet  ot  ail 


Christians  rest  content  with  the  easier  and  more  external  worship 
as  typified  by  Aaron,  and  never  press  on  unto  perfection,  in  the 
full  knowledge  of  our  Melchizedek  and  the  mystery  of  the 
heavenly  life  into  which  He  leads  them.  Let  us,  above  all, 
remember  that  it  was  through  death,  through  the  offering  up 
of  Himself,  that  Jesus  entered  in,  and  opened  a  way  for  us  to 
follow.  To  enter  in  demands  a  very  entire  renunciation  of  the 
world  and  of  self,  a  very  real  and  true  participation  in  Christ's 
humbling  of  Himself  and  becoming  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross — in  His  death  to  sin.  And  it  demands  no 
less  a  very  real  experience  of  the  mighty  operation  of  God, 
which  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  and  set  Him  at  His  right 
hand.  But  let  us  praise  God,  too,  that  for  every  soul  who  truly 
wills  it,  our  almighty  King-Priest,  able  to  save  completely,  will 
surely  give  it. 

1.  How  many  Christians  think  of  heaven,  as  the  place  where  Jesus  is,  as  the  place  to  which 
they  have  a  title,  and  where  they  hope  to  go  when  they  die.  But  they  think  not  of  heaven  as  a 
life,  and  of  God's  nearness  as  an  experience  for  every  hour  of  our  daily  walk.  And  how  many  who 
think  of  Jesus  as  the  blessed  One  in  whom  they  are  there,  by  imputation,  but  know  not  of  Him  as 
lifting  them  and  their  whole  life  into  heaven,  and,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  bringing  heaven  into  them. 

2.  Every  priest  has  his  temple,  where  he  receives  the  worshippers,  and  leads  them  to  find  the 
God  they  seek.  Jesus  must  have  a  temple  too.  The  heavens  are  the  true  sanctuary.  Do  not 
attempt  to  separate  between  the  priest  and  the  place  of  his  dwelling.  As  His  life  in  heaven  is 
the  life  of  our  heart,  we  know  the  power  of  His  priesthood. 


Zbe  tbollest  of  ail  267 


LX. 


THE  PRIEST-KING.  THE  MEDIATOR  OF  THE  NEW  COVENANT. 

VIII.~6.  But  now  hath  he  obtained  a  ministry  the  more  excellent,  by  how 
much  also  he  is  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  which  hath  been  enacted 
upon  better  promises. 

7.  For  if  that  first  covenant  had  been  faultless,  then  would  no  place  have 
been  sought  for  a  second. 

8.  For  finding  fault  with  them,  he  salth, 

Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord, 

That  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with 
the  house  of  Judah  ; 

9.  Not  according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fathers ; 

In  the  day  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead  them  forth  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt ; 

For  they  continued  not  in  my  covenant. 
And  I  regarded  them  not,  saith  the  Lord. 

In  our  chapter  there  are  two  titles  given  to  our  Prie.st-King, 
describing  two  functions  which  He  discharges.  The  one  is, 
a  Minister  of  the  sanctuary,  the  other,  the  Mediator  of  the 
better  covenant.  The  Epistle,  having  mentioned  the  sanctuary 
in  which  Christ  ministers,  is  about  to  proceed  in  the  next 
chapter  with  the  work  that  Christ  did  in  opening  and  entering 
the  sanctuary  with  His  own  blood.  He  does  not,  without  good 
reason,  first  interpose  here  the  member  of  the  new  covenant  and 
Christ's  work  as  its  Mediator.  "^  The  two  designations,  Minister 
of  the  sanctuary,  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  represent  two 
aspects  of  Christ's   work  which   are  the  complement  of  each 


268  Cbc  ibollcst  of  ail 


other,  and  which  arc  each  necessary  to  the  right  imtlcrstanding 
of  the  other.  The  sanctuary  is  God's  dwelling  ;  the  Minister  of 
the  sanctuary  has  specially  to  do  with  bringing  us  nigh  to  God, 
and  the  blessedness  we  find  there.  The  covenant  deals  with  our 
relation  and  duty  towards  God  ;  the  Mediator  of  the  covenant 
has  specially  to  do  with  our  jireparation  for  entering  the 
sanctuary,  and  being  made  fit  to  meet  God. 

In  chap.  \ii.  we  heard  that  Jesus  is  the  surety  of  a  better 
covenant.  We  said  there  that  a  covenant  is  meant  to  define  the 
mutual  relation  of  the  two  contracting  parties,  and  to  secure  the 
fulfilment  of  their  engagements  to  each  other.  In  the  passage 
from  Jeremiah  quoted  in  our  chapter  we  are  told  that  the 
covenant  God  made  with  Israel,  when  He  brought  them  up  out 
of  Egj'pt,  was  not  faultless,  and  that  therefore  a  second  was 
needed.  The  fault  or  insufficiency  of  the  first — its  weakness 
and  unprofitableness  (vii.  i8) — would  be  avoided  in  the  new.  A 
different  provision  would  be  made.  '  The  fault  of  the  old 
covenant  is  stated  to  be  (\  er.  9) :  They  continued  not  in  My 
covenant,  and  I  regarded  them  not.  Israel  began  well,  and 
accepted  the  covenant,  and  promised  obedience.  But  they 
continued  not.  There  was  no  power  to  continue  ;  no  power  to 
conquer  temptation,  or  the  evil  heart ;  to  remain  faithful.  Against 
this  the  new  co\enant  would  proxide,  because  it  was  better, 
enacted  in  better  promises.  It  would,  by  the  blood  of  Christ, 
provide  such  an  actual  putting  awaj'  and  cleansing  of  sin  that 
God  would  actually  remember  them  no  more  for  ever.  With 
this  He  would,  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  so  put  His  laws  into 
their  heart  that  they  should  delight  in  doing  them.  God  would 
Himself  work  both  to  will  and  to  do.  .\nd  then,  in  this  power 
of  Christ's  blood  and  the  renewal  of  the  Hoi)-  Spirit,  they  would 
no  longer  be  dependent  on  men  for  their  knowledge  of  God,  but 


Zbe  Ibolicst  of  BU  269 


have  direct  access  and  direct  intercourse  with  Him.  They 
would,  in  spiritual  reality,  draw  nigh  to  God  in  the  Holiest  of 
All. 

This  is  the  new,  the  better  covenant,  of  which  Jesus  was  to 
be  the  Mediator.  It  is  easy  now  to  see  of  what  importance 
it  is  that  the  Epistle  should  here  introduce  this  name  and 
function  of  our  blessed  Lord,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  cove- 
nant. When  the  message  comes  to  us  of  drawing  nigh 
to  God,  of  entering  into  the  Ploliest  and  abiding  there,  the 
thought  always  comes  that  our  sinful,  faithless  hearts  render  it 
impossible.  It  would  be  very  easy,  we  say,  and  very  blessed  to 
dwell  all  the  day  consciously  in  God's  presence,  if  we  oould  all 
the  day  remain  occupied  with  spiritual  things.  But  we  cannot — 
our  earthly  duties  render  unbroken  communion  an  impossibility. 
And  if  it  be  said  that,  if  we  trust  this  to  Jesus,  He  will  care  for 
us,  even  when  we  have  to  be  occupied  with  earthly  things,  the 
answer  comes  again  :  But  oh,  the  sinfulness  of  our  heart !  Ere 
we  know,  tempers  and  dispositions  come  which  must  bring  a 
cloud  ;  to  abide  always  in  the  light  of  God,  not  only  to  enter 
God's  presence,  but  to  continue  there — it  is  not  possible ! 

Come  and  listen.  But  they  continued  not  in  My  covenant. 
This  is  the  experience  of  the  old  covenant,  to  which  there  now 
can  be  an  end.  The  whole  provision  of  the  new  covenant  is  to 
fit  us  for  continuing  in  it,  for  abiding  continually.  It  is  indeed 
true  that  the  sanctuary  is  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Holy  One, 
the  Holiest  of  All,  and  that  sinning  clouds  God's  presence. 
There  must  be  correspondence,  harmony,  between  the  sanctuary, 
with  the  God  that  dwells  there,  and  the  worshipper.  But  it  is  for 
this  very  purpose  that  Jesus,  the  Minister  of  the  true  sanctuary, 
is  also  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant.  He  engages  so  to 
reveal  the  power  of  His   blood  and  the  boldness  of  access  it 


270  Zbe  t)0lte6t  of  Bll 


gives  thee,  so  to  put  God's  law  into  thy  heart  in  that  power  of 
an  endless  life  in  which  He  does  all  His  priestly  work,  so  to  fit 
thee  to  know  the  Lord,  that  thou  shalt  indeed  know  that  as 
Minister  of  the  sanctuary  He  does  in  very  truth  secure  thy 
entrance  and  thy  abidint,^  there.  The  work  done  by  Jesus  in 
the  heavenly  sanctuary  must  have  its  counterpart  in  the  heart 
that  is  to  enter  that  sanctuary.  And  because  it  is  one  Jesus 
who  is  both  Minister  of  the  new  sanctuary  and  Mediator  of  the 
new  covenant,  we  may  be  confident  that  He  will  do  His  work 
in  our  heart  as  effectually  as  He  does  it  in  heaven.  And, 
therefore,  the  deeper  our  insight  into  the  perfection  of  His  work 
in  heaven  above,  the  more  confident  our  expectation  may  be 
of  the  perfection  in  our  life  within. 

/.  Let  us  pray  God  very  earnestly  that  as  we  now  proceed  to  study  the  better  promises  of  the 
better  covenant,  our  hearts  may  be  opened  to  receive  them  in  all  their  fulness. 

2.  "No  omnipotence  can  make  you  partaker  of  the  life  of  the  outward  world  without  having 
the  life  of  this  outward  world  born  in  your  own  creaturely  being.  And  therefore  no  omnipotence 
can  make  you  n  partaker  of  the  beatijic  life  in  presence  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  unless  that  life  stands 
in  the  same  triune  state  within  you  that  it  docs  without  you." 

3.  A  heavenly  sanctuary  and  a  heavenly  High  Priest  ask  for  a  heavenly  Christian  and  a 
heavenly  heart.  And  this  is  what  the  new  covenant  promises,  and  the  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant  gives  indeed. 


Cbe  Iboliest  of  BU  271 


LXI. 

THE  CENTRAL  BLESSING  OF  THE  NEW  COVENANT- 
THE  LAW  WRITTEN  IN  THE  HEART. 

VIII.— 10.  For  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house   of 
Israel  after  these  days,  saitli  the  Lord; 

I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind. 

And  on  their  hearts  also  will  I  write  them. 

/' 
We  have  seen  what  the  fault  was  of  the  old   covenant,   But 

they  continued  not  in  My  covenant.  We  have  seen  that  the 
one  object  of  the  new  covenant  is  to  repair  the  fault  of  the  old. 
There  is  henceforth  no  more  need  of  the  word,  But  they  con- 
tinued not.  The  one  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  new- 
covenant  is  to  be,  There  is  grace  for  those  who  enter  it  to 
continue.  The  great  mark  of  the  priest  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek  is — He  abideth  continually.  The  great  mark  of 
each  of  His  people  is  meant  to  be  too  —  He  abideth  con- 
tinually. 
'  But  are  we  not,  some  one  will  say,  all  living  under  the  new 
covenant,  and  yet  is  not  the  ordinary  experience  of  Christians 
still  the  same  as  of  old.  But  they  continued  not?  Alas,  it 
is  so.  And  how,  then,  with  the  provision  of  the  covenant  ?  Is 
it  really  to  be  taken  so  literally  ?  And  if  so,  has  not  the  new 
covenant  failed  just  as  the  old  did,  of  securing  the  continual 
obedience  God  desired?  The  answer  will  be  found  in  what  we 
have  more  than  once  pointed  out.     The  Hebrews  were  Chris- 


•272  Q;bc  DoUest  of  Hll 


tians  under  the  new  covenant,  but  with  their  life  in  the  old.  The 
new  covenant  does  not  do  violence  to  man's  will.  It  is  only 
where  the  heart  sees  and  believes  what  God  has  promised,  and 
is  ready  at  any  ccjst  to  claim  and  possess  it,  that  any  blessing 
can  be  realised.  With  most  Christians  there  is  not  even  the 
intellectual  belief  that  God  means  His  promise  literally.  They 
are  so  sure  that  their  views  of  man's  sinfulness  and  the  necessity 
of  always  sinning  are  correct,  that  the  teaching  of  God's  word 
in  regard  to  His  purpose  to  make  an  end  of  the  but  they 
continued  not  can  never  enter  the  mind.  Others  there  are 
who  accept  the  truth,  but  through  unbelief  enter  not  into  the 
full  possession.  And  the  whole  state  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  such  that  but  few  live  in  the  full  experience  of  what  the 
covenant  means. 

Let  us  meditate  on  its  promises,  and  specially  on  its  chief 
promise,  its  central  blessing,  I  will  put  My  laws  in  their  mind, 
and  write  them  in  their  hearts,  in  the  adoring  faith  of  our  great 
High  Priest  u^xmi  the  throne,  who  as  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant  is  its  suret\-  that  every  word  will  be  made  true.  It  is 
in  Him,  whom  He  hath  by  oath  appointed  Priest  in  the 
power  of  an  endless  life,  that  God  says  :  This  is  the  covenant  I 
will  make  after  these  days  :  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind 
and  write  them  in  their  hearts.  In  chap.  7  (ver.  16)  we  saw 
what  the  difference  is  between  an  external  law  and  an  inner  life. 
The  one  is  impotent,  the  other  mjghty.  And  we  saw  how  even 
God's  law  failed  of  securing  obedience,  because  the  heart  was 
not  right.  The  promise  of  the  new  covenant  is  to  convert  the 
external  law  into  an  inner  life,  to  put  it  so  in  the  heart  that  it 
shall  be  its  inmost  life,  so  that,  as  naturally  as  the  heart  wills 
and  lives  and  acts  on  earth,  it  shall  will  and  live  and  do  what 
God  demands.     \Vh)'  iloes  an   acorn  so  spontaneous!)-  grow  up 


Zbc  fboUeet  of  Bll  273 


into  an  oak  ?  Because  the  law  of  the  oak  is  written  in  the 
heart  of  the  acorn.  Tlie  life  of  every  creature  acts  with  delight 
in  accordance  with  the  law  of  its  Creator,  that  is,  its  inner  nature. 
God  and  His  holiness,  Christ  and  His  Holy  Spirit,  if  they 
belong  to  us,  must  be  as  near  to  us,  as  essentially  within  us,  as 
truly  inherent  in  our  own  life,  as  our  own  thinking,  willing,  and 
feeling.  And  so  God  promises  that  He  will  put  His  law  in 
our  minds  and  write  it  in  our  hearts,  in  such  a  way  that  it  shall 
be  our  inner  nature,  our  very  life,  and  we  shall  act  according  to 
it  as  naturally  as  we  think  or  live.  Yes,  He  will  do  it.  So  that 
we  can  say,  even  as  His  Son  did,  T/iy  laiv  is  within  My  heart ; 
I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  God. 

This  is  the  covenant  I  will  make,  saith  the  Lord.  And 
God  hath  given  His  own  Son  with  an  oath  to  be  of  that  coven- 
ant the  surety !  And  of  that  covenant  He,  the  High  Priest 
upon  the  throne,  is  the  Mediator  !  Oh,  what  think  you  ?  Will 
God  fail  in  the  very  thing  the  covenant  was  devised  to  provide  ? 
Will  He  disappoint  us  in  the  one  thing  in  which,  as  it  deals  with 
our  experience,  the  new  covenant  is  to  be  better  than  the  old  ? 
In  the  one  thing  His  heart  and  our  heart  longs  for,  to  serve  Him 
in  righteousness  and  holiness  all  the  days  of  our  life, — is  this 
one  thing  the  very  thing  we  are  not  to  realise  ?  God  forbid.  He 
hath  said — This  is  the  covenant  I  will  make ;  and  He  will 
do  it. 

Let  us  look  up  to  the  Mediator  of  the  covenant,  our  High 
Priest  upon  the  throne  in  the  heavens.  When  He  was  with  His 
disciples  on  earth,  the  law  was  not  yet  put  into  their  hearts. 
How  often  they  failed  in  humility  and  love  and  boldness.  But 
when  He  sat  down  upon  the  throne,  He  sent  down  the  Holy 
Spirit  from  heaven  in  their  hearts,  and  all  was  new.  They  were 
full  of  humility  and  love  and  great  boldness.     The  law  of  God 


274  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


was  in  their  hearts  as  the  power  of  a  life  that  knew,  and  loved, 
and  did  His  will.  Christ  dwelt  in  their  hearts  by  faith.  The 
power  of  the  endless  life  from  the  throne  of  God  had  taken 
possession  of  them.  Oh,  let  us  not  doubt.  Let  us  plead  God's 
promise,  I  will  make  a  new  covenant.  Let  us  trust  God's  Son, 
the  surety  of  the  covenant,  and  receive  God's  Spirit — we  shall 
be  brought  into  the  covenant,  and  into  the  sanctuary  together, 
and  have  grace  to  continue,  to  abide  continually. 

1.  Just  as  truly  us  there  is  a  sanctuary  above,  there  is  a  sanctuary  within.  In  the  old  sanctu- 
ary the  chief  object  in  the  Holiest  of  All  was  the  law,  in  the  ark  covered  by  the  mercy-seat  sprinkled 
with  blood.  It  is  the  law  written  in  the  heart  sprinkled  with  the  blood  that  makes  it  a  sanctuary. 
It  is  the  heart  that  is  thus  made  a  sanctuary  that  enters  the  true  sanctuary. 

2.  Is  not  the  reason  that  some  who  seek  earnestly,  fail  of  the  blessing,  that  they  seek  to  grasp 
it  in  their  own  power,  and  do  not  yield  to  the  Holy  Spirit  to  work  it  in  them.  It  -is  God  who  says, 
I  will  make  the  covenant.  He  must  by  His  mighty  operation  do  it  in  each  heart.  Our  place  is  deep 
dependence,  patient  waiting,  and  implicit  reliance  on  His  mighty  power. 

3.  Remember  that  all  He  has  to  do  as  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant.  He  does  because  He  is 
Minister  of  the  true  sanctuary.  He  sends  out  of  the  sanctuary  the  Spirit  of  heaven  into  our  hearts 
— It  is  this  that  puts  God's  law  within  us. 

4.  The  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word :  Thou  shalt  love.  Where  the  love  of  God  is  shed 
abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  law  of  love  is  written  in  the  heart. 

5.  The  soul  of  man  hath  no  other  near  or  far  from  God,  but  as  its  will  unites  with  God's  will, 
and  worketh  with  it. 


trbe  Iboliest  of  mi  275 


LXII. 

THE  CROWNING  BLESSING  OF  THE  NEW  COVENANT 
FELLOWSHIP  WITH  GOD. 

VIII.-IO.  And  I  will  be  to  them  a  God, 

And  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people : 
11,        And  they  shall  not  teach  every  man  his  fellow- citizen, 

And  every  man  his  brother,  saying.  Know  the  Lord : 

For  all  shall  know  me, 

From  the  least  to  the  greatest  of  them. 

God  created  man  to  find  his  blessedness  in  Himself.  This  is 
the  nobility  and  the  greatness  of  man,  that  he  has  a  heart 
capable  of  fellowship  with  God,  a  heart  so  great  that  nothing 
less  than  God  can  really  satisfy  it.  This  is  held  out  to  him  as 
his  highest  blessedness  through  eternity. 

There  is  but  one  thing  can  hinder  the  fellowship,  and  that  is 
sin.  Where  there  is  no  sin,  the  creature  lives  in  the  Creator  as 
naturally  as  a  bird  in  the  air,  or  a  fish  in  the  water.  For  this 
reason  the  two  promises  of  the  new  covenant  go  together  as 
cause  and  effect :  I  will  write  My  law  in  their  hearts,  and, 
I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  know  Me.  The 
deliverance  from  the  evil,  wandering  heart,  will  be  followed  by 
close  personal  access  to  God.  They  shall  not  teach  every 
man  his  brother.  Know  the  Lord:  for  all  shall  know  Me, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest  of  them. 

Personal,  direct  fellowship  with  God  :  this  is  the  crowning 


276  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


blessing  of  the  new  covenant,  to  which  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  very  specially  points  the  way.  In  Israel  only  the 
priests  might  enter  the  Holy  Place :  thence  they  went  out  again 
to  teach  the  people.  Into  the  Most  Holy  only  the  High  Priest 
might  come.  In  Christ  every  believer  has  access  to  the  Holiest 
of  All.  Christ  hath  redeemed  us,  not  to  bring  us  to  Himself, 
but  to  bring  us  to  God.  He  is  the  door,  in  which  we  are  not  to 
remain  standing,  but  through  which  we  enter  to  God  Himself, 
to  His  heart  and  His  love.  God,  having  spoken  in  past  times 
in  the  prophets,  hath  now  spoken  in  His  Son;  in  Him  there  is 
an  immediate  living  fellowship  with  the  living  God.  All  that 
the  Epistle  has  to  teach  of  the  rending  of  the  veil,  and  our 
boldness  in  the  blood,  and  the  entrance  into  the  Holiest  of  All 
— it  has  all  to  do  with  this  one  thing,  direct  personal  living 
fellowship  with  the  living  God.  As  the  Minister  of  the  true 
sanctuary  Jesus  sends  the  Spirit  from  thence  to  do  the  work 
He  has  in  our  heart  as  Mediator  of  the  covenant,  and  prepare 
us  to  enter  the  sanctuary.  As  Mediator  of  the  covenant  He 
then  reveals  Himself  more  fully  as  the  Minister  of  the 
sanctuary,  who  does  indeed  bring  us  nigh  to  God. 

And  how  does  He  do  this?  In  the  way  in  which  He 
Himself  entered  there,  th'»  way  of  obedience.  I  will  write  My 
law  in  their  hearts,  and  they  shall  know  Me.  The  law- 
written  on  the  heart  is  the  condition  of  fellowship  with  God. 
"  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  "  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart  for  they  shall  see  God."  "  Thy  will  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  To  be  brought  by  the  heavenly 
High  Priest  within  the  veil,  and  dwell  before  God's  face,  we  must 
learn  to  do  His  will  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.  This  is 
the  true  heavenly-mindedness  that  renders  us  capable  of  fellow- 
ship with  the  God  of  heaven.     Union  with  God's  will  was  the 


^be  Iboliest  of  BlI  277 


way  by  which  Jesus  entered.  Union  with  God's  will  is  the  way 
by  which  Jesus  brings  us  in  to  the  love  and  the  joy  of  the 
Father. 

And  how,  again,  do  we  obtain  this  double  blessedness — of 
the  law  written  in  the  heart,  and  the  entrance  into  God's 
presence  in  Jesus?  It  is  God  must  do  it.  It  is  He  who  sware 
to  Abraham — Blessing"  I  will  bless.  It  is  He  who  sware  to 
our  High  Priest — Thou  art  a  Priest  for  ever.  It  is  God 
Himself  who  will  fulfil  His  oath.  Jesus  is  not  now  on  the 
throne  to  take  the  place  of  God,  to  be  to  us  instead  of  God. 
Verily  no  ;  He  brings  us  to  God.  Through  Him  we  draw  nigh 
to  God,  that  God  may  perfect  His  work  in  us.  Our  first  access 
to  God  in  the  pardon  of  sin,  ere  yet  we  know  what  the  access 
of  abiding  fellowship  is,  has  this  one  sole  object  that  God  may 
reveal  His  Son  in  us,  so  that  we  look  up  to  and  love  and 
serve  the  Father,  even  as  the  Son  did.  And  so  the  one  thing 
required  of  us  is,  that  we  bow  ourselves  and  abide  and  live  in 
deep  dependence  and  humility  before  God.  However  clearly  we 
see  the  blessed  truth  of  the  promises  of  the  new  covenant,  how- 
ever earnestly  we  desire  them,  however  firmly  we  think  we  grasp 
them  as  faith,  all  will  not  avail — God  Himself  must  do  it.  God 
Himself  must  admit  to  His  presence,  and  make  His  face  to 
shine  upon  us.  And  as  the  path  to  this,  God  Himself  must  write 
His  law  in  our  hearts,  give  us  the  new  nature  in  such  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  that  He  works  both  to  will  and  to  do.  God 
Himself  must  by  the  Holy  Ghost  so  shed  abroad  His  love  in 
our  hearts,  that  to  love  becomes  as  natural  to  us  as  it  is  for  the 
dove  to  be  gentle.  God  has  promised  on  His  oath  to  do  this 
for  us,  in  Jesus  the  surety  of  the  new  covenant.  It  is  God  who 
strengthens  us  mightily  by  His  Spirit,  then  gives  Christ  to  dwell 
in  our  hearts  by  faith  ;  it  is  in  God  that  we  are  rooted  in  love ; 


278  Cbe  Iboltcst  of  Hll 


and  then — this   is  the  full  entrance  into  His  presence  in  the 
Holiest  of  All — then  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God. 

Once  again,  how  do  we  obtain  this  double  blessedness  of 
the  law  of  God  written  in  the  heart,  and  the  presence  of  God 
filling  our  life?  There  is  no  way  but  utterly  ceasing  from 
ourselves,  dying  to  self,  and  waiting  in  absolute  dependence  and 
deep  humility  upon  God.  Christ's  priesthood  is  not  of  earth 
but  of  heaven.  All  means  and  ordinances,  all  thoughts  and 
purposes  in  man  are  but  the  shadows  of  the  heavenly  things. 
It  is  from  God  in  heaven  that  the  heavenly  life  must  come, 
through  Christ  who  brings  us  nigh  to  Him.  And  Christ 
cannot  bring  us  nigh  to  God,  cannot  make  our  drawing  nigh 
acceptable  in  any  other  way  than  by  working  in  our  heart  a 
faith,  and  love,  and  obedience  which  are  pleasing  to  Him ; 
that  is,  by  His  fulfilling,  as  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  its 
promises  within  us.  This  brings  us  to  the  true  knowledge  of 
God. 

1.  If  you  would  realise  the  need  of  absolute  dependence  upon  God,  and  His  direct 
operation,  I  know  not  of  anything  that  will  be  more  helpful  than  to  read  what  William 
Law  says  on  humility,  meekness,  patience,  and  resignation  to  God's  will,  as  the  one  only 
and  infallible  way  to  God.  See  "The  Spirit  of  Love,"  Part  II.,  Third  Dialogue  {WHOLLY  FOR 
GOD,  pars.  29-38). 

2.  When  He  had  effected  the  cleansing  of  sins,  He  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  Majesty  on  high.  The  removal  of  sin  is  the  path  to  God's  presence  with  Christ  and 
with  us. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  au  279 


LXIII. 

THE  INITIAL  BLESSING-  OF  THE  NEW  COVENANT- 
THE  PARDON  OF  SIN. 

VIII.— 12.  For  I  will  be  merciful  to  their  iniqmties, 
And  their  sins  will  I  remember  no  more. 
13.  In  that  he  saith,  A  new  covenant,  he  hath  made  the  first  old.   But 
that  which  is  becoming  old  and  waxeth  aged  is  nigh  unto  vanishing  away. 

Of  the  blessings  of  the  new  covenant,  the  one  which  is  here 
mentioned  last  is  in  reality  the  first.  For  I  will  be  merciful— 
this  is  what  precedes,  and  is  the  ground  of  the  renewal  of  the 
heart  and  the  fellowship  with  God.  Pardon  is  the  door ; 
holiness  of  heart  and  life  the  pathway  ;  the  presence  of  God  the 
blessedness  of  the  Christian  life.  The  first  leads  to  the  second, 
the  first  and  second  to  the  third.  To  live  in  God's  presence 
and  fellowship  two  things  must  be  clear :  the  thought  of  sin 
must  be  put  away  out  of  God's  heart,  and  the  love  of  sin  out 
of  our  heart.  These  two  blessings  are  together  secured  in  the 
new  covenant.  First,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  so  complete,  that 
He  remembers  them  no  more  for  ever ;  they  never  more  enter 
into  God's  heart.  And,  second,  the  renewal  of  our  heart  and 
will  so  complete,  that  the  law  of  God  is  written  there  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  so  that  the  will  of  God  is  our  will. 

The  three  blessings — the  pardon  of  sin,  purity  of  heart,  and 
the  presence  of  God — are  so  joined,  that  as  our  views  and  our 
acceptance  of  one  is  feeble,  our  hold  on  the  others  will  suffer. 


280  xLbe  Ibolicst  of  mi 


In  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant  they  are  offered  and 
secured  to  us  in  their  fuhiess,  in  the  power  of  an  endless  Hfe. 
But  our  experience  of  this  depends  upon  our  knowledge,  our 
faith,  our  surrender.  And  it  is  because  our  understanding 
and  acceptance  and  experience  of  the  two  first  blessings  is  so 
defective  that  our  fellowship  with  God,  our  entrance  into  the 
holy  presence,  and  our  abiding  there,  is  still  so  much  in  Old 
Testament  failure— But  they  continued  not.  Let  us  try  and 
realise  this. 

Take  the  first  of  the  three  covenant  blessings :  I  will  be 
merciful  to  their  iniquities,  and  their  sins  will  I  remember  no 
more.  In  more  than  one  respect  the  Christian's  thought  of 
what  this  pardon  is  may  be  defective.  With  some  it  is  nothing 
more  than  the  remission  of  punishment.  They  think  only  of 
acquittal  ;  they  know  not  that  it  implies  acceptance,  complete* 
restoration  to  the  favour,  to  the  heart  and  the  home  of  the 
F"ather.  They  are  content  with  pardon,  as  the  escape  from  a 
great  danger ;  of  the  surrender  to,  and  the  life  abiding  in  the 
love  that  pardoned,  they  know  little.  With  others  the  thought 
of  pardon  is  mostly  connected  with  individual  or  with  daily 
sin.  They  have  no  conception  of  the  entire  and  eternal  putting 
away  of  sin  out  of  God's  sight  and  thought,  which  is  assured 
to  us  in  the  words  :  Their  sins  will  I  remember  no  more.  And 
with  still  others,  whose  views  may  be  more  accurate,  the  pardon 
of  God  exercises  so  little  power,  because  it  has  been  accepted 
more  with  the  mind  than  the  heart.  They  consent  to  and 
claim  what  God's  word  says  of  it ;  but  have  never,  mostly 
owing  to  the  want  of  any  deep  sense  of  sin,  or  any  powerful 
workings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  realised  the  overwhelming  glory 
of  God's  mercy  as  they  came  to  Himself  to  receive  from  His 
own   mouth  the  pardon  of  their  sins.     In   all  these  cases  the 


ZTbe  Iboliest  of  mi  281 


farther  blessings  are  scarce  understood  or  sought,  or  if  claimed, 
their  full  meaning  and  power  are  never  known. 

It  is  even  so  with  the  second  covenant  blessing.  There  are 
not  a  few  who  know  indeed  what  the  greatness  of  God's  pardon- 
ing love  is,  who  yet  never  reach  out  to  claim,  as  equally  sure, 
the  greatness  of  His  sanctifying  grace.  The  necessity  of  daily  a, 
sinning,  the  impossibility  of  living  for  one  day  without  actual  | 
transgression  is  such  a  deeply-rooted  conviction,  and  there  is 
such  confidence  that  God's  word  teaches  it,  that  the  mind  ' 
cannot  for  a  moment  enter  into  what  the  word  has  said  of  the  \ 
radical  difference  between  the  old  covenant  and  the  new  in  this 
respect.  The  confounding  the  freedom  from  any  sinful 
tendency,  and  freedom  in  the  power  of  Christ's  indwelling  from 
actual  sinning,  even  with  the  sinful  tendency  still  remaining,  is 
so  universal,  that  every  attempt  to  press  home  the  promise  of 
the  law  written  in  the  heart,  in  its  contrast  to  the  Old  Testament 
life,  is  regarded  as  dangerous.  The  wonderful  promise  is  levelled 
down  to  the  ordinary  experience  of  the  ordinary  Christian  life. 
No  wonder  then  that  the  crowning  promise.  They  shall  not  every 
man  teach  his  brother,  Know  the  Lord,  with  its  direct  teaching 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  its  direct  fellowship  with  God  through  the 
Spirit,  is  neither  valued  nor  claimed,  and  the  entrance  through 
the  rent  veil  into  the  Holiest  of  All  and  the  presence  of  God 
postponed  to  another  world. 

Let  us  pray  the  Father  to  give  us  enlightened  eyes  of  the 
heart,  to  know  what  is  the  hope  of  His  calling,  to  a  life  in  His 
love  and  will,  and  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  His  inheritance 
in  the  saints, — the  direct  and  full  access  to  His  presence  and 
fellowship,  and  ivhat  the  exceeding  greatness  of  His  poiver  in  us 
zvho  believe,  according  to  the  zvorking  of  His  mighty  power  which 
He  wrought  in  Christ,  when  He  raised  Him  from  the  dead  and 


282  tTbc  Ibolicet  of  ail 


set  Him  on  His  own  right  hand.  Let  us  believe  that  that 
exaltation  of  Christ  out  of  the  dead  to  His  throne,  and  the 
assurance  that  that  same  mighty  power  works  in  us,  means, 
even  for  this  earth,  a  life  of  heavenly  power  and  joy,  of  holiness 
and  happiness  which  it  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  to 
conceive.  Jesus,  the  Priest-King  on  the  throne,  is  the  surety  of 
the  covenant.  Let  us,  like  Him,  yield  ourselves  to  that  death 
to  sin  and  to  self,  out  of  which  God  raised  Him.  Let  us  sink 
into  the  death  of  emptiness  and  nothingness  and  helplessness  ; 
let  us,  as  dead,  wait  for  the  mighty  operation  of  God.  He  who 
gave  Jesus  as  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  surety  for  its 
promises,  will  reveal  Him,  and  fulfil  them  in  us,  will  bring  us 
in  Him  within  the  veil,  and  give  us  our  life  there  in  the  secret 
of  His  blessed  presence. 

/.  Pardon  of  sin  is  the  door,  the  entrance  to  the  Father's  home.  The  law  in  the  heart  is  the 
life  and  walk  there,  the  fitness  to  draw  nigh  to  God.  Direct  fellowship  with  God ;  this  is  the 
blessedness  to  be  found  in  God's  presence. 

2.  All  the  three  blessings  in  Him  the  surety  of  the  covenant.  In  Him  our  justification  and 
the  assurance  that  our  sins  no  more  come  up  before  Him.  In  Him  our  sanctification,  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  breathing  His  will  into  our  very  heart.  In  Him  our  complete  redemption,  the  fitness  to 
dwell  in  God's  presence  for  evermore. 


Ube  IboUcst  of  ail  283 


SEVENTH    SECTION.-x.  1-28. 

The  Power  of  Christ's  Blood  in  the  opening  of  the  New 
Sanctuary  and  the  New  Covenant. 


LXIV. 

THE  HOLY  PLACE  AND  THE  MOST  HOLY. 

IX.- 1.  Now  even  the  first  covenant  had  ordinances  of  divine  service,  and 
its  sanctuary,  a  sanctuary  of  this  world. 

2.  For  there  was  a  tabernacle  prepared,  the  first,  wherein  were  the  candle- 
stick, and  the  table,  and  the  shewbread;  which  is  called  the  Holy  Place. 

3.  And  after  the  second  veil,  the  tabernacle  which  is  called  the  Holy  of 
Hohes. 

4.  Having  a'golden  censer,  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant  overlaid  round  about 
with  gold,  wherein  was  a  golden  pot  holding  the  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod  that 
budded,  and  the  tables  of  the  covenant ; 

5.  And  above  it  cherubim  of  glory  overshadowing  the  mercy- seat ;  of  which 
things  we  cannot  now  speak  severally. 

6.  Now  these  things  having  been  thus  prepared,  the  priests  go  in  continually 
into  the  first  tabernacle,  accomplishing  the  services ; 

7.  But  into  the  second,  the  high  priest  alone,  once  in  the  year,  not  without 
blood,  which  he  ofFereth  for  himself,  and  for  the  errors  of  the  people. 

In  chap.  vii.  the  eternal  priesthood  of  Jesus  has  been  revealed 
to  us.  In  chap.  viii.  we  have  seen  Him,  as  Priest  seated  on  the 
throne  of  heaven  in  His  twofold  work.  He  is  the  Minister  of 
the  sanctuary  in  the  heavens.  He  is  the  Mediator  of  the  covenant 
in  the  heart  of  man  on  earth.  We  thus  know  the  Priest  and  the 
sanctuary  in  which  He  ministers ;  we  are  now  invited  in  this 
chapter  to  look  at  the  blood  which  He  presents,  and  what  it 


284  zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


effects.  The  word  Blood  has  not  yet  been  used  :  in  this  chapter 
we  have  it  twelve  times.  In  the  first  half(i-i4)we  have  its 
efficacy  in  opening  the  most  holy  place,  and  in  sprinkling  our 
conscience  to  enter  there;  then  (15-22)  in  dedicating  the  cove- 
nant, and  cleansing  all  connected  with  it  ;  and  after  that  again  in 
opening  heaven  and  putting  away  all  sin  (23-28). 

The  first  portion  begins  with  a  description  of  the  worldly 
sanctuary,  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture,  0/ zu/iic/i  things,  the. 
writer  says,  zve  cannot  nozv  speak  severally.  J ust  as  he  said,  in  chap, 
viii.  I,  This  is  the  chief  point :  zue  have  such  an  High  Priest, 
so  here  too,  in  speaking  of  the  sanctuary,  he  has  one  great  thought 
which  he  wishes  to  press  home.  The  tabernacle  was  so  con- 
structed by  Moses,  after  the  heavenly  pattern,  as  specially  to 
shadow  forth  one  great  truth.  In  that  truth  lies  tlie  mystery 
and  the  glory  of  the  New  Testament,  the  power  and  joy  of  the 
Christian  life.  That  truth  is  the  opening  of  the  way  into  the 
Holiest,  the  access  into  the  presence  of  God. 

We  read:  There  was  a  tabernacle  prepared,  the  first, 
which  is  called  the  Holy  Place.  And  after  the  second  veil,  the 
tabernacle  which  is  called  the  Holy  of  Holies.  The  priests 
go  in  continually  into  the  first  tabernacle,  accomplishing  the 
service ;  but  into  the  second,  the  high  priest  alone,  once  in  the 
year,  not  without  blood.  The  one  thing  the  writer  wishes  to 
direct  our  attention  to  is  the  difference  and  the  relation  between 
the  two  compartments  into  which  the  tabernacle  was  divided, 
and  the  meaning  of  the  veil  that  separated  them. 

The  inner  sanctuary  was  called  the  Holiest  of  All,  or,  as  it  is 
in  Hebrew,  the  Holiness  of  Holinesses.  It  was  the  highest  em- 
bodiment there  could  be  of  holiness  ;  it  was  the  place  where 
God  Most  Holy  dwelt.  His  holy  presence  filled  it.  No  man 
might  enter  there  on    pain   of  death  but  the  high  priest,  and 


^be  Iboliest  of  Bll  28£ 


even  he  only  once  a  year.  In  the  Holy  Place,  separated  from 
the  Most  Holy  by  a  heavy  veil,  the  priests  entered  and  served. 
The  truths  embodied  in  the  house  thus  made  after  a  heavenly 
pattern  were  very  simple.  In  the  Most  Holy  God  dwelt,  but  man 
might  not  enter.  In  the  Holy  Place  man  might  enter  to  serve 
God,  but  God  dwelt  not  there.  The  veil  was  the  symbol  of 
separation  between  a  holy  God  and  sinful  man  :  they  cannot 
dwell  together.  The  tabernacle  thus  expressed  the  union  of  two 
apparently  conflicting  truths.  God  called  man  to  come  and 
worship  and  serve  Him,  and  yet  he  might  not  come  too  near : 
the  veil  kept  him  at  a  distance.  His  worship  in  the  tabernacle 
testified  to  his  longing  for  the  restoration  to  the  fellowship  with 
God  he  had  lost  in  paradise,  but  also  to  his  unfitness  for  it,  and 
his  inability  to  attain  it.  The  two  truths  find  their  reason  and 
their  harmony  in  the  holiness  of  God,  that  highest  attribute  of 
the  divine  Being.  In  it  righteousness  and  love  are  combined. 
Love  calls  the  sinner  near  ;  righteousness  keeps  him  back.  The 
Holy  One  bids  Israel  build  Him  a  house  in  which  He  will 
dwell,  but  forbids  them  entering  His  presence  there.  The 
entrance  of  the  high  priest  once  a  year  for  a  few  moments  was 
a  faint  foreshadowing  that  the  time  would  come  when  access  to 
the  Holiest  would  be  given.  In  the  fulness  of  time  righteousness 
and  love  would  be  revealed  in  their  perfect  harmony  in  Him,  in 
whom  those  types  and  shadows  would  find  their  fulfilment. 

The  first  and  second  tabernacles  are  the  symbols  of  two 
degrees  of  the  divine  nearness,  two  stages  of  access  to  God's 
presence,  two  modes  of  fellowship  with  God,  two  ways  of  serving 
Him.  The  one,  to  which  the  High  Priest  had  access  only  once 
a  year,  is  the  promise  of  what  would  one  day  be  in  Christ :  the 
nearer,  the  more  direct  and  immediate  approach  into  the  pre- 
sence and  fellowship  of  God.     The  other  is  the  symbol  of  the 


286  ZbC  1b0ltC6t  Of  ail 


service  of  God  as  at  a  distance  with  a  veil  between,  without  the 
full  light  of  His  countenance.  The  one  thing  the  writer  wants 
us  to  learn  is  the  difference  between  the  two  stages,  and  the  way 
by  which  God  leads  us  from  the  lower  to  the  higher. 

1.  Of  which  things  we  cannot  now  speak  severjilly,  one  by  one.  There  is  a  time  for 
doing  this  too.  But  when  souls  are  to  be  led  on  into  the  perfection  of  Christ  and  His  work,  we 
must  turn  then  from  the  multiplicity  of  truths  to  the  simplicity  and  unity  of  one  truth,  that 
Christ  has  opened  heaven.  Let  this  be  our  one  question,  What  has  the  heavenly  High  Priest 
effected  for  me  ? 

2.  I  know  what  Christ  has  done.  I  need  to  know  what  He  had  to  do.  There  was  a  Holy  Place 
into  which  man  might  enter.  There  was  a  Most  Holy  into  which  he  might  not  enter.  The  veil  shut 
him  out.  And  Christ's  one  work  was  to  tear  down  that  veil,  and  give  us  the  right  and  the  fitness 
to  enter,  yea  to  dwell  always  in  that  heretofore  inaccessible  place.  The  mystery  of  the  rent 
veil,  of  the  opened  entrance  into  the  Holiest,  is  the  one  thing  we  need  to  learn. 


Zbc  Ibollest  of  Bll  287 


LXV. 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  AND  THE   WAY  INTO  THE  HOLIEST. 

IX.— 8.  The  Holy  Ghost  this  signiiying,  that  the  way  into  the  Holy  Place 
hath  not  yet  been  made  manifest,  while  as  the  first  tabernacle  is  yet  standing  ; 

9.  Which  is  a  parable  for  the  time  now  present ;  according  to  which  are 
offered  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  that  cannot,  as  touching  the  conscience,  make 
the  worshipper  perfect, 

10.  Being  only  (with  meats  and  drinks  and  divers  washings)  carnal  ordi- 
nances, imposed  until  a  time  of  reformation. 

We  said  that  ^/le  Holiest  of  All,  or,  as  it  is  literally,  the  Holiness 

of  Holinesses,  was  the  very  embodiment  of  the  holiness  of  God, 

the  place  of  His  presence.     The  Holy  Spirit  specially  bears  the 

epithet  Holy,  because  He  is  the  bearer  of  the  divine  holiness  to 

impart  it  to  man — He  is  the  Spirit  of  holiness.     It  will  appear 

no  more  than  natural  that  there  should  be  a  close  connection 

between  the  sanctuary  as  the  revelation  of  God's  holiness,  and 

the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  revealer.      This  is  what  we  are  taught 

here  :     the    whole    construction    of    the    tabernacle    and    the 

appointment  of  the  high  priest's    entrance   once   a   year  was 

so  ordered  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  to  be  a  great  object-lesson 

in  which  the  truth  was  taught  that  so  long  as   the  veil  hung 

there,  the  way  into  the  Holiest  was  not  yet  open.     The  Holy 

Spirit  signifying   that   the  way  into  the  Holiest  was  not 

yet   opened.     The  words  teach  us    that  the  truth  about  the 

way   into   the    Holiest    was   entirely   in   charge   of   the    Holy 

Spirit.      It  was   He  who  devised  and  revealed  to   Moses  the 


288  Zbc  tJOliest  of  mi 


heavenly  pattern.  It  was  He  who  ordered  the  veil  as  the 
token  that  the  way  was  not  open.  It  was  He  who,  by  the  yearly 
entrance  of  the  high  priest,  gave  the  prophecy  that  it  would  one 
day  be  opened.  It  was  He  who  prepared  a  body  for  Him,  and 
later  on  filled  Him  who  was  to  be  the  opener  of  the  way.  It 
was  He,  the  Eternal  Spirit,  through  whom  Christ  offered  Him- 
self as  the  sacrifice  with  whose  blood  He  might  enter  in.  It 
was  He,  the  Spirit  of  holiness  (Rom.  i.  4),  through  whom  Christ 
was  raised  from  the  dead  and  exalted  to  the  throne  of  God.  It 
was  the  Holy  Spirit  who,  when  the  way  had  been  opened,  came 
out  from  the  Holiest  of  All  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  to  impart  to 
men  the  life  and  the  power  of  the  glorified  Christ.  It  is  He 
who  to-day  still  presides  over  the  way  into  the  Holiest,  leading 
in  all  who  are  willing  to  dwell  there. 

The  lesson  for  our  spiritual  life  is  one  of  deep  suggestiveness. 
The  Holy  Spirit  has  charge  of  the  way  into  the  Holiest ;  both 
while  that  way  is  not  yet  manifest  and  when  it  is  opened  up. 
He  alone  hath  the  knowledge  and  the  power  to  reveal  this 
mystery.  For  it  is  still  a  spiritual  mystery.  Though  everything 
that  Scripture  reveals  of  it  can  be  studied  and  understood  by 
any  man  of  intelligence,  and  a  clear  conception  can  be  formed, 
or  an  exposition  given  of  what  it  means,  the  living  power  of  the 
truth,  the  actual  experience  of  entering  in  through  the  opened 
veil  into  the  presence  of  God,  can  only  be  communicated  and 
wrought  in  the  life  within  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit 
alone  can  reveal  in  the  heart  what  the  way  means,  both  where 
it  is  not  yet  made  manifest,  and  where  it  is.  He  can  work  in 
a  man  the  deep  conviction  that  he  does,  or  does  not  know,  the 
true  nearness  of  God  in  his  own  experience. 

We  have  seen  that  the  two  compartments  of  the  taber- 
nacle  represent    two    degrees    of   nearness    to    God,    two   dis- 


trbe  -holieet  of  Bll  289 


pensations  of  God's  grace,  or  two  stages  in  the  Christian  life, 
a  lower  and  a  higher.  Into  the  Holy  Place  every  priest 
might  come  daily  to  do  there  the  service  God  had  appointed. 
Into  the  Most  Holy  he  might  not  enter  till  Christ  had  opened 
it  for  all  believers.  'Many  believers  never  in  experience 
enter  into  this  life  of  the  inner  sanctuary,  the  more  complete 
and  abiding  nearness  to  God.  They  have,  in  the  outer  court, 
seen  the  altar,  and  received  the  pardon  of  sin  ;  they  have  entered 
upon  the  service  of  God,  they  seek  to  do  His  will,  but  the  joy  of 
His  presence  as  their  abiding  portion  they  know  not.  And  very 
often  they  do  not  know  that  there  is  a  better  life,  that  there  is 
an  entering  within  the  veil,  a  real  dwelling  in  the  secret  of  God's 
presence  ;  the  need  that  the  Holy  Spirit  signify  to  them,  work 
in  them  the  conviction  that  to  them  the  way  into  the  Holiest 
hath  not  yet  been  made  manifest.  They  need — oh  let  us,  if  we 
have  not  yet  entered  in,  let  us  give  ourselves  to  pray  for — the 
discovery  that  there  is  an  inner  chamber  ;  that  there  is  still  the 
veil  of  the  flesh,  the  life  of  the  carnal  Christian,  that  prevents 
the  access  ;  that  only  the  possession  of  the  Pentecostal  blessing, 
the  Spirit  that  came  from  the  throne  when  Jesus  had  rent  the 
veil,  that  reveals  Him  and  links  to  Him,  is  what  will  bring  us  in. 
When  He  has  signified  this  to  us,  and  we  yield  ourselves  to 
the  full  conviction  that  we  are  still  without  the  veil,  and  strong 
desire  has  been  awakened  at  any  cost  to  enter  in,  the  same 
Spirit  who  at  Pentecost,  when  our  High  Priest  had  just  entered 
with  His  blood,  came  forth  from  the  Holiest  of  All,  will  come  to 
us  in  power  and  bring  us  in  too.  As  He  reveals  Jesus  Himself 
as  having  gone  in  for  us  ;  as  He  makes  us  willing  for  that 
perfect  surrender,  in  which  nothing  less  than  the  direct  and 
continual  fellowship  with  God  can  satisfy  us ;  our  hearts  will 
open  to  the  wondrous  mystery,  that  what  is  impossible  to  men 
19 


290  XLbc  Iboliest  of  ail 


is  possible  with  God,  and  that  God  of  His  free  grace  and  in  His 
mighty  power  does  indeed  grant  it  to  His  child,  even  now  in 
Christ,  to  dwell  with  Him  in  unbroken  communion. 

O  God  !  let  the  Holy  Spirit  witness  to  every  reader  who 
needs  it,  that  to  him  the  way  into  the  Holiest  hath  not  j-et  been 
made  manifest ;  and  to  everyone  who  is  ready  for  it,  that  in 
Christ  the  way  into  the  Holiest  is  indeed  open.  With  Pentecost, 
and  the  participation  it  brought  of  the  Spirit  of  the  glorified 
Jesus,  began  true  Christianity,  as  a  ministration  of  the  Spirit. 
The  enjoyment  of  the  Pentecostal  gift,  as  the  communication  of 
the  heavenly  life  and  the  abiding  presence  of  Jesus  the  glorified 
One,  in  all  its  Pentecostal  freshness  and  fulness,  is  the  only  power 
that  can  enable  us  to  live  within  the  veil,  in  the  living  experience 
that  the  way  into  the  Holiest  has  now  been  opened.  It  is  the 
Spirit  dwelling  in  us  will  fit  us  for  dwelling  in  God's  presence. 

7.  Shall  we  any  longer  fear  and  doubt  ?  The  Father  in  heaven  beckoning  us  into  His 
presence ;  the  Son,  our  Brother,  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  pointing  to  the  way  He  opened  for 
us  ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  within  us  to  be  our  light  and  strength,  to  enable  us  to  walk  in  that 
way— shall  we  fear?  No,  let  us  hear  the  voice  that  gives  the  power:  Rise  up  and  walk. 
Enter  in. 

2.  Do  get  it  very  clear  that  the  two  compartments  are  two  stages  in  religious  life  and 
worship  and  service.  The  one  when  the  power  of  the  rent  veil  is  not  yet  understood ;  the 
other  where  the  Holy  Spirit  has  brought  us  in. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  BU  291 


LXVI. 

THE  OPENING  UP  OF  THE  HOLIEST. 

IX.— 11.  But  Christ  having  come  a  High  Priest  of  the  good  things  to  come, 
through  the  greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle,  that  is  to  say,  not  of  this 
creation, 

12.  Nor  yet  through  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but  through  his  own 
blood,  entered  in  once  for  all  into  the  Holy  Place,  having  obtained  eternal 
redemption. 

In  studying  the  meaning  of  the  Mo.saic  ritual,  there  are  .specially 
four  things,  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit  shadows  forth  to  us 
the  mysteries  of  redemption,  the  good  things  to  come  of  the  new 
dispensation  that  Israel  was  to  look  for.  These  are  THE  PRIEST, 
THE  Sanctuary,  the  Blood,  and  the  Way  into  the 
Holiest.  We  have  these  four  things  here  together.  There  is 
Christ  the  High  Priest  of  the  good  things  to  come,  there  is  the 
greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle,  there  is  His  own  blood, 
and  there  is  His  entering  in  into  the  Holiest.  As  we  apprehend 
the  power  of  these  things,  we  shall  know  the  meaning  of  His 
having  obtained  eternal  redemption.  Let  us  hear  what  the 
Holy  Spirit  speaks  of  the  opening  up  the  Holiest,  and  the 
wonderful  path  in  which  that  was  effected. 

The  writer  uses  a  very  remarkable  expression,  Christ  through 
the  greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle,  entered  into  the 
Holiest.  The  two  compartments  of  the  sanctuary  are  the  sym- 
bols of  two  states  of  life,  two  degrees  of  fellowship  with  God. 
The  Epistle  teaches  us  that  Christ  knew  this  difference  in  His 


292  Zbc  1boliC0t  of  ail 


own  life  experience,  and,  in  entering  into  and  opening  up  the 
higher  one  for  us,  passed  through  the  lower.  He  entered  into 
the  Holiest  through  the  greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle, 
through  the  experience  of  that  spiritual  reality  of  which  the 
tabernacle  was  the  shadow.  The  Holiest  is  God's  immediate 
presence,  the  Holy  Place  a  drawing  nigh  to  God  with  a  veil 
between.  The  flesh,  man's  fallen  nature  in  its  weakness  and  its 
exposure  to  all  the  consequences  of  sin,  is  the  veil.  Christ  has 
dedicated  for  us  a  new  and  living  way  through  the  veil,  that 
is  to  say,  His  flesh.  When  He  came  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh,  that  life  in  flesh,  with  its  liability  to  temptation,  and  its 
weakness,  with  its  possibility  of  suffering  and  death,  with  its  life 
of  faith  and  prayer  and  tears,  with  its  need  of  learning  obedience 
and  being  made  perfect,  with  its  subjection  to  the  law  and  its 
curse,  was  the  Holy  Place,  the  first  tabernacle,  through  which  He 
had  to  pass  to  have  the  veil  rent  in  His  death,  so  to  enter  in  and 
appear  before  God.  Christ  lived  with  His  people  in  the  Old 
Testament;  He  passed  through  the  first  tabernacle  as  a  spiritual 
experience  in  perfect  reality  ;  it  was  only  with  His  resurrection 
and  ascension  the  New  Testament  began. 

Yes,  Christ  passed  from  the  Holy  Place  into  the  Holiest  of  All. 
When  He  died  the  veil  was  rent  in  twain  ;  the  two  compartments 
were  made  one.  The  priest  who  was  in  the  Holy  Place  could 
see,  could  enter  into  the  Holiest.  All  that  was  in  the  Holiest,  the 
light  of  God's  presence  between  the  cherubim,  could  shine 
unhindered  into  the  Holy  Place.  In  Christ  the  veil  of  the  flesh 
was  rent  asuiidLT  and  taken  awa)'.  ihc  free  access  to  God  was 
opened  up,  not  only  as  a  thing  of  right  and  title  in  virtue 
of  our  pardon,  but  as  a  thing  of  power  and  living  reality.  Yt: 
are  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  Spirit,  if  so  be  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
dzvelletli  in  you.     When  the  veil  was  rent  and  Christ  entered  in. 


Zbc  Iboliest  ot  Bll  29s 


the  two  abodes,  what  had  been  the  dwelling  of  God,  and  what 
had  been  the  dwelling  of  the  priests,  were  thrown  into  one. 
The  eyes  and  the  hearts  of  men  might  freely  and  boldly  look 
up  and  rise  up  and  greet  their  God  and  Father ;  in  Christ  they 
had  their  place  before  Him.  All  the  light  and  love  and  holiness 
of  the  Most  Holy  shone  into  the  Holy  Place.  The  Spirit  of  God, 
as  He  was  received  by  Christ  from  God  the  Father  on  His 
ascension,  passed  down  into  the  worshippers.  The  Pentecostal 
gift  brought  down,  from  above,  the  higher  life  into  which  the 
blessed  Son  had  entered;  the  Holy  Spirit  made  the  light  and 
love  and  holiness  of  the  inner  sanctuary  not  only  a  vision,  a 
revelation,  but  a  possession  and  an  experience. 

The  veil  of  the  flesh  has  been  rent ;  Christ  has  entered  once 
for  all,  having  obtained  everlasting  redemption  ;  the  dwelling  of 
God  and  man  has  been  thrown  into  one  ;  the  Spirit  of  heaven  has 
been  given  to  signify  to  us,  and  to  give  us  the  living  experience, 
that  the  way  into  the  Holiest  has  been  made  manifest.  Our 
entering  in,  our  dwelling  in  God's  presence  in  the  light  and  nearness 
and  holiness  of  the  Most  Holy,  is  a  spiritual,  a  heavenly  reality.  It 
can  only  be  apprehended  by  the  tender,  by  the  perfect  conscience, 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  to  him  who  is  willing  to  give  up  all 
to  be  saved  completely,  by  the  perfect  whose  senses  are  exer- 
cised to  discern  good  and  evil.  But  to  all  who  are  willing  to  pass 
through  the  rent  veil  of  Christ's  flesh,  to  die  with  Him  as  He 
died,  and  live  with  Him  as  He  lived,  the  Holy  Spirit  will  show 
it ;  the  way  into  the  Holiest  is  opened  up. 

Christ  having  come,  entered  in  once  for  all.  Four  thousand 
years  after  man's  loss  of  fellowship  with  God  in  paradise  had  to 
pass.  Fifteen  hundred  years  the  veil  had  to  hang  with  its 
solemn  injunction  not  to  draw  near.  Thirty-three  years  the  Son 
of  God   Himself  had  to  live  on  this  side  of  the  veil.     But  at 


294  Zbe  -IboUest  of  ail 


length,  once  for  all  and  for  ever,  the  way  was  opened.  Fear 
not,  O  Christian,  to  whom  these  things  appear  too  high,  fear 
not.  Be  thou  faithful,  through  faith  and  longsuffering  we 
inherit  the  promises.  Persevere  in  the  faith  of  what  Christ  has 
accomplished  once  for  all.  He  entered  in,  the  Second  Adam,  in 
whom  our  life  is,  whose  members  we  are.  Persevere  in  the  faith 
of  the  infinite  meaning  of  that  great  transaction.  And  to  thee, 
too,  will  come  a  day  when,  in  thy  experience,  thou  shalt  enter, 
and  go  out  no  more  for  ever. 

7.  This  entering  in  and  opening  up  of  the  Holiest  was  solely  and  entirely  on  our  behalf,  that 
we  might  live  and  serve  there.  Therefore—the  practical  part  of  the  Epistle  commences  at  once, — 
therefore,  having  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holiest,  let  us  draw  nigh.  That  is  the  summing  tip 
of  the  whole  Epistle.  God  is  not  content  that  we  should  serve  Him  with  a  veil  between.  Let  us 
know  clearly  which  of  the  two  positions  we  occupy  as  Christians— within  or  stHI  without  the  veil. 

2.  "After  I  had  lived  for  thirteen  years  in  the  Holy  Place,  seeking  to  serve  God  there,  it 
pleased  Him,  who  dwelleth  between  the  cherubim,  to  call  me  to  pass  through  the  veil,  and  to  enter 
the  Holiest  of  All,  through  the  blood  of  Jesus." 


^be  Iboliest  of  mi  295 


LXVII. 

THE  POWER  OF  CHRIST'S  BLOOD  TO  OPEN  THE  HOLIEST. 

IX.— 12.  But  Christ,  through  his  own  blood,  entered  in  once  for  all  into 
the  Holy  Place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemption. 

Through  His  own  blood.  We  have  seen  our  great  High  Priest 
on  the  throne  of  God,  a  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  in 
the  power  of  an  endless  life.  When  He  rose  from  the  dead  and 
ascended  into  heaven,  it  was  according  to  that  working  of  the 
strength  of  His  might,  whereby  God  had  raised  Him  from  the 
dead  and  set  Him  at  His  own  right  hand.  He  entered  God's 
presence  as  the  living  One  who  was  dead,  and  behold,  He  lives 
for  evermore.  And  yet,  strange  to  say,  it  was  not  enough  that 
He  should  present  Himself  at  the  gate  of  heaven  as  the  con- 
queror of  death  and  hell,  and  ask  admission.  He  had  to  take 
with  Him  His  own  blood,  as  it  had  been  shed  upon  earth,  as  the 
power  by  which  alone,  as  the  surety  of  sinners,  He  could  claim 
access  to  the  presence  of  God.  Through  His  own  blood  Christ 
entered  the  Holiest  of  All. 

And  what  does  this  word,  His  own  blood,  mean  ?  To  Moses 
God  had  said  that  He  gave  t/ie  blood  jipon  the  altar  to  be  an 
atonement,  because  the  blood  is  the  life.  That  is,  the  living 
blood  in  the  body  is  the  life.  And  the  shed  blood  ?  That 
means  death.  More  than  that,  it  means  an  unnatural,  a  violent 
death.     There  are  only  two  ways  in  which  this  unnatural  blood- 


296  zhc  ibolicBt  of  ail 


shedding  comes  :  by  malice  or  by  justice.  We  have  the  two  to- 
gether in  the  words :  Whoso  sheddcth  mans  blood,  by  man 
shall  his  blood  be  shed.  In  the  death  of  Christ  the  maHce  of 
men  and  the  righteousness  of  God  met.  He  was  slain,  a  sacri- 
fice to  the  evil  passions  of  men,  because  He  resisted  unto  blood, 
striving  against  sin.  He  was  slain,  a  sacrifice  unto  God,  be- 
cause He  was  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  Death  is  inseparably  connected  with  sin,  and  the  curse 
which  God  pronounced  upon  it.  When  Jesus,  as  the  Second 
Adam,  tasted  death  for  all  ;  when,  in  Gethsemane,  He  with  strong 
crying  and  tears  besought  His  Father  that  the  cup  might  pass 
from  Him;  when  on  the  cross  He  cried,  My  God!  My  God! 
%vhy  hast  thou  forsaken  Me  ?  He  tasted  death  in  all  its  bitter- 
ness, both  as  the  terrible  fruit  of  sin,  the  revelation  of  what  sin 
is  in  its  very  nature,  and  as  the  penalty  God  had  attached  to  it. 
He  died,  as  Scripture  says,  the  just  for  the  unjust ;  He  bore  our 
sins  ;  His  blood  was  shed  for  us  ;  He  gave  His  life  a  ransom 
for  many.  And  the  word  "  blood  "  in  this  Epistle  includes  all  that 
is  meant  by  the  death  of  Christ ;  the  blood  is  the  expression 
and  embodiment  of  His  obedience  unto  death,  of  His  death  for 
our  sins,  of  the  atonement  which  He  made  for  us  as  the  victim 
on  the  altar,  as  our  Substitute. 

It  is  this  blood  now,  of  whose  power  our  Epistle  says  such 
wondrous  things.  It  was  in  the  blood  of  the  eternal  covenant 
that  God  brought  again  our  Lord  Jesus  from  the  dead;  the 
blood  was  tlie  power  of  the  resurrection.  It  was  through  His 
blood  I  Ic  cleansed  the  heavenly  things  themselves  and  entered 
the  Holiest  on  cjur  behalf  In  those  iieavenly  places  our  sins 
were  in  God's  book,  our  sins  had  as  a  thick  cloud  darkened 
God's  presence  ;  for  the  sake  of  the  blood  the  sin  was  blotted 
out,  and  access  given  to   Him,  and   in    Ilim  to  us,  to  ai)pear 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  ail  297 


before  the  very  face  of  God.  And  now,  in  the  vision  of  the 
heavenly  glory  to  which  he  has  given  us  access,  as  we  have  it 
later  in  the  Epistle,  we  find  in  heaven  not  only  God  the  Judge 
of  all,  and  Christ  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  but  also 
the  blood  of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  things  than  that 
of  Abel.  Everywhere  we  see,  besides  and  along  with  Jesus  Christ, 
the  living  One  Himself,  in  His  resurrection,  in  His  entering 
heaven,  in  His  sitting  on  the  throne,  as  a  separate  existence  and 
power,  the  blood,  the  symbol  of  the  death  in  which  we  have  our 
ransom  and  redemption. 

Through  His  own  blood.  Let  us  specially  note  how  the 
blood  is  connected  with  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  Christ.  We 
are  too  apt  to  think  only  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  type  of  Aaron, 
the  blood-shedding  on  earth.  The  Epistle  does  not  speak  of 
it  Where  it  mentions  the  blood,  it  is  in  connection  with  the 
resurrection  and  the  entrance  into  heaven,  as  it  works  in  the 
power  of  an  endless  life.  It  is  as  the  Holy  Spirit  reveals  this  to 
the  soul,  t/ie  Jieavenly  power  of  the  blood,  as  ministered  by  our 
Melchizedek,  the  minister  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  that  we 
see  what  a  power  that  blood  must  have,  as  so  sprinkled  on  us 
from  heaven,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  at  once  to  give  us 
a  real,  actual,  living  access  into  the  presence  of  God. 

His  own  blood.  I  know  of  no  word  in  the  Bible  or  in  human 
speech  that  contains  such  mysteries  !  In  it  are  concentrated  the 
mysteries  of  the  incarnation,  in  which  our  God  took  flesh  and 
blood  ;  of  the  obedience  unto  death,  in  which  the  blood  was  shed  ; 
of  the  love  that  passeth  knowledge,  that  purchased  us  with  His 
own  blood ;  of  the  victory  over  every  enemy,  and  the  everlasting 
redemption  ;  of  the  resurrection  and  the  entrance  into  heaven  ; 
of  the  atonement  and  the  reconciliation  and  .the  justification 
that  came  through  it ;  of  the  cleansing  and  perfecting  of  the 


298  zbc  iboUcst  of  ail 


conscience,  of  the  sprinkling  of  the  heart  and  the  sanctifying 
the  people.  Through  that  blood  Christ  entered  once  for  all  into 
heaven  ;  through  that  blood  we  enter  too,  and  have  our  home  in 
the  Holiest  of  All.  As  the  Holy  Spirit  from  heaven,  dwelling 
in  us,  imparts  to  us  the  boldness  the  blood  gives,  and  the  love 
into  which  it  opens  the  way,  our  whole  inner  being  will  be 
brought  under  its  power,  and  the  cleansing  of  the  blood  in  its 
full  extent  be  our  experience. 

7.  "As  in  heaven  so  in  earth."  Thou  hast  more  interest  than  thou  thinkest  in  knowing  what 
the  blood  hath  wrought  in  heaven.  As  thou  enterest  by  the  Spirit  into  its  power  there,  will  thy 
faith  receiue  its  power  within  thee. 

2.  The  inner  sanctuary — deeper,  nearer  in  to  God.  He  that  seeks  after  this  will  have  the  inner 
sanctuary  opened  within  Himself.  The  inner  life,  the  law  within  the  heart,  in  the  inward  parts,  a 
deepening  sense  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  will  be  given  to  such  a  one. 

3.  There  are  in  Scripture  two  aspects  of  Christ's  death—that  of  atonement  and  that  of  fellow- 
ship. He  died  for  us,  for  our  sin,  that  we  might  not  die.  What  our  Substitute  did  in  bearing  the 
curse  of  sin,  we  cannot  do,  we  need  not  do.  He  died  to  sin,  and  we  died  with  Him  and  In  Him. 
The  blood  is  the  divine  expression  for  the  former  aspect :  His  own  blood  is  the  power  and  the 
worth  of  His  death  taken  up  and  presented  and  for  ever  preserved  in  its  energy  and  action  before 
God.  The  sprinkling  with  the  blood  includes  the  transition  to  the  second  aspect.  As  the  blood, 
as  a  heavenly  reality,  through  the  Holy  Spirit  works  in  us,  the  very  disposition  that  animated 
Jesus  in  the  shedding  of  it  will  be  imparted  to  us. 

4.  Christ  can  bring  us  into  the  Holiest  in  no  other  way  than  He  went  in  Himself,  through  His 
own  blood.     Oh,  seek  to  know  the  power  of  Christ's  blood. 


XTbe  Iboliest  of  au  299 


LXVIII. 

THE  POWER  OF  CHRIST'S  BLOOD  TO  CLEANSE  THE 
CONSCIENCE. 

IX.— 13.  For  if  the  blood  of  goats  and  bulls,  and  the  ashes  of  a  heifer 
sprinkling  them  that  have  been  defiled,  sanctify  unto  the  cleanness  of  the 
flesh: 

14.  How  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal 
Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God,  cleanse  your  conscience 
from  dead  works  to  serve  the  Uving  God  P 

The  High  Priest  went  into  the  Holiest  once  a  year,  not 
without  blood.  Christ,  the  High  Priest  of  good  things  to 
come,  entered  the  greater  and  more  perfect  Holiest  of  All 
through  His  own  blood,  opening  up  to  us  in  very  deed  the 
way  into  God's  presence.  The  entrance  of  the  high  priest  on 
earth  effected  a  certain  external  and  temporary  cleansing  and 
liberty  of  access.  The  blood  of  Christ  which  had  power  to 
open  heaven,  is  able  to  effect,  in  its  heavenly,  eternal  power,  a 
heavenly,  a  divine  cleansing  in  the  heart. 

To  illustrate  this,  we  are  referred  to  Numb.  xix.  and  the 
cleansing  with  the  ashes  of  the  heifer.  Anyone  who  had 
touched  a  dead  body  was  unclean,  and  had  to  be  excluded 
from  the  camp.  To  meet  the  need,  the  ashes  of  a  heifer  that 
had  been  sacrificed,  and  of  which  the  blood  had  been  sprinkled 
towards  the  tabernacle,  were  mingled  with  water,  and  sprinkled 
on  the  one  who  had  been  defiled.  The  sprinkling  restored  him 
to  his  place  and  privileges ;  with  a  clear  conscience  he  could 


^00  Zbc  IboUeet  of  ail 


now  take  part  in  the  life  and  worship  of  God's  people.  And 
the  question  is  asked — If  the  blood  of  a  sacrifice  had  such 
power,  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanse 
your  conscience  to  serve  the  living  God?  The  infinite 
efficacy  of  Christ's  blood,  and  the  infinite  blessedness  of  the 
cleansing  it  effects,  can  only  be  measured  by  what  that  blood 
really  is. 

The  power  of  Christ's  blood  consists  in  two  things.  The 
one  element  that  gives  the  blood  its  value  is,  the  holy  obedience 
of  which  its  outpouring  was  the  proof;  the  blood  of  Christ  who 
offered  Himself  without  spot  unto  God.  Me  came  to  live  the 
life  of  man,  such  as  God  had  meant  Him  to  be,  in  creating 
Him.  He  gave  up  His  will  to  God,  He  pleased  not  Himself 
but  sought  only  God's  pleasure,  He  yielded  His  whole  life  that 
God  might  reveal  Himself  in  it  as  He  pleased  :  He  offered 
Himself  unto  God.  He  took  and  filled  the  place  the  creature 
was  meant  to  fill.  And  that  without  spot.  His  self-sacrifice 
was  complete  and  perfect,  and  His  blood,  even  as  the  blood  of 
a  man,  was,  in  God's  sight,  inexpressibly  precious.  It  was  the 
embodiment  of  a  perfect  obedience.  The  other  element  is,  that 
the  Eternal  Spirit  was  in  the  life  of  that  blood.  It  was  through 
the  Eternal  Spirit  He  offered  Himself  It  was  the  Word  that 
became  flesh,  the  Eternal  Son  of  God  who  was  made  man.  It 
was  the  life  of  God  that  dwelt  in  Him.  That  life  gave  His 
blood,  each  drop  of  it,  an  infinite  value.  The  blood  of  a  man 
is  of  more  worth  than  that  of  a  sheep.  The  blood  of  a  king  or 
a  great  general  is  counted  of  more  value  than  hundreds  of 
common  soldiers.  The  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  ! — it  is  in  vain 
the  mind  seeks  for  some  expression  of  its  value  ;  all  we  can  say 
is,  it  is  His  own  blood,  the  precious  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  ! 

It  was  this  twofold  infinite  worth  of  the  blood  that  rave  it 


Zbc  IboHest  of  ail  3oi 


such  mighty  power — first,  in  opening  the  grave,  and  then  in 
opening  heaven.  It  was  this  gave  it  the  victory  over  all  the 
powers  of  death  and  hell  beneath,  and  gave  Him  the  victor's 
place  on  high  on  the  throne  of  God.  And  now,  when  that 
blood,  from  out  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  is  sprinkled  on  the 
conscience  by  the  heavenly  High  Priest — how  much  more — 
with  what  an  infinitely  effectual  cleansing,  must  not  our 
conscience  be  cleansed. 

We  know  what  conscience  is.  It  tells  us  what  we  arc. 
Conscience  deals  not  only  with  past  merit  or  guilt  but  specially 
with  present  integrity  or  falsehood,  A  conscience  fully  cleansed 
with  the  blood  of  Christ,  fully  conscious  of  its  cleansing  power, 
has  the  sense  of  guilt  and  demerit  removed  to  an  infinite 
distance.  And  no  less  is  it  delivered  from  that  haunting 
sense  of  insincerity  and  double-heartedness,  which  renders 
boldness  of  access  to  God  an  impossibility.  It  can  look  up  to 
God  without  the  shadow  of  a  cloud.  The  light  of  God's  face, 
to  which  the  blood  gave  our  Surety  access,  shines  clear  on  the 
conscience,  and  through  it  on  the  heart.  The  conscience  is  not 
a  separate  part  of  our  heart  or  inner  nature,  and  which  can  be 
in  a  different  state  from  what  the  whole  is.  By  no  means. 
Just  as  a  sensibility  to  bodily  evil  pervades  the  whole  body, 
so  the  conscience  is  the  sense  which  pervades  our  whole 
spiritual  nature,  and  at  once  notices  and  reports  what  is  wrong 
or  right  in  our  state.  Hence  it  is  when  the  conscience  is 
cleansed  or  perfected,  the  heart  is  cleansed  and  perfected  too. 
And  so  it  is  in  the  heart  that  the  power  the  blood  had  in  heaven 
is  communicated  here  on  earth.  The  blood  that  brought  Christ 
into  God's  presence,  brings  us,  and  our  whole  inner  being,  there 
too. 

Oh,  let  us  realise  it.      The   power  of  the  blood   in   which 


302  ^be  Iboliest  of  ail 


Christ  entered  heaven,  is  the  power  in  which  He  enters  our 
hearts.  The  infinite  sufficiency  it  has  with  God,  to  meet  His 
holy  requirements,  is  its  sufficiency  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
our  heart  and  life.  It  is  the  blood  of  the  covenant.  Its  three 
great  promises — pardon  and  peace  in  God's  forgetting  sin  ;  purity 
and  power  in  having  the  law  of  life  in  our  heart  ;  the  presence 
of  God  set  open  to  us,  arc  not  only  secured  to  us  by  the  blood, 
but  the  blood  has  its  part  too  in  communicating  them.  In  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  blood  effects  a  mighty,  divine 
cleansing,  full  of  heavenly  life  and  energy.  The  Spirit  that  was 
in  Christ,  when  He  shed  the  blood,  makes  us  partakers  of  its 
power.  His  victory  over  sin,  His  perfect  obedience,  His  access 
to  the  Father, — the  soul  that  fully  knows  the  cleansing  of  the 
blood  in  its  power  will  know  these  blessings  too. 

7.  The  blood  that  cleanses  my  conscience  is  the  blood  that  gave  Christ  access  into  the 
Holiest.     If  I  truly  desire,  if  I  know  and  honour  and  trust  the  blood,  it  will  give  me  access  too. 

2.  How  completely  every  vestige  of  an  evil  conscience  can  be  taken  away  and  kept  away 
by  the  redeeming  power  of  this  precious  blood!  Let  us  believe  that  our  High  Priest,  whose 
entrance  into  the  sanctuary  and  whose  ministry  there,  is  all  in  the  power  of  the  blood,  will 
make  it  true  to  us. 

3.  This  cleansing  is  what  is  elsewhere  spoken  of  as  Christ's  washing  us  in  His  blood.  A  piece 
of  linen  that  is  to  be  ivashed  is  steeped  and  saturated  until  every  stain  be  taken  out.  As  we  in 
faith  and  patience  allow  the  blood  to  possess  our  whole  inner  being,  wc  shall  know  what  it  means 
that  it  washes  whiter  than  snow 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  ail  sos 


LXIX. 

THROUGH  THE  ETERNAL  SPIRIT. 

IX.— 14.  How  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal 
Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God,  cleanse  your  conscience 
from  dead  works  to  serve  the  hving  God  ? 

One  might  well  ask  for  the  reason  why  the  blood  of  Christ, 
which  hath  had  such  infinite  power  in  conquering  sin  and  death 
and  in  opening  heaven  to  Christ  and  to  us,  does  not  exercise  a 
mightier  influence  even  in  earnest  Christians,  in  cleansing  our 
heart  and  lifting  us  into  a  life  in  the  joy  of  God's  presence.  The 
first  answer  must  be,  that  we  seek  too  little  for  a  real  insight 
into  its  divine  and  infinite  worth.  The  blood  of  the  heavenly 
Son,  shed  in  the  power  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  could  not  but  again 
return  heavenward  :  as  God's  Spirit  leads  us  by  faith  to  gaze 
on  its  power  in  heaven,  and  to  see  how  through  all  heaven  its 
power  is  manifest,  we  shall  learn  to  expect  and  to  receive  its 
working  to  keep  us  in  God's  presence,  in  a  power  above  all 
that  thought  can  conceive.  The  same  Eternal  Spirit,  through 
whom  the  blood-shedding  took  place,  will  effect  in  us  the 
blood-sprinkling  too,  and  make  us  indeed  partakers  of  what  it 
has  accomplished  in  God's  presence  above. 

This  is  a  lesson  of  the  utmost  consequence.  If  the  blood  is 
His  who  offered  Himself  to  God  through  the  Eternal  Spirit, 
if  it  is  in  the  power  and  life  of  that  Spirit  that  the  blood  was 
brought  into  heaven,  and  now  has  its   place   there,  we   may  be 


304  Jibe  Ibolicst  of  BU 


sure  that  that  Spirit  will  ever  work  with  and  in  that  blood. 
T/icrc  arc  three  that  bear  tuitncss  on  earth :  the  Spirit  and  the 
water  and  the  blood.  The  Spirit  and  the  blood  must  and  will 
ever  go  together.  We  must  not  limit  our  faith  in  the  power 
of  the  blood  in  our  heart  to  what  we  can  understand.  Our 
faith  must  ever  be  enlarging,  to  expect  that  the  Holy  Spirit, 
according  to  His  hidden  but  almighty  and  uninterrupted  work- 
ing, can  maintain  the  heavenly  efficacy  of  the  blood  in  a  way 
to  us  inconceivable.  Just  as  Christ  is  the  visible  revelation  on 
earth  and  in  heaven  of  the  invisible  God,  so  the  Holy  Spirit 
again  is  the  communication  of  the  life  and  redemption  of  the 
unseen  Christ.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  power  of  the  inner  life. 
Within  us,  down  in  the  to  ourselves  inaccessible  depths  of  our 
being,  He  is  able,  as  the  Eternal  Spirit,  to  maintain,  in  them 
that  yield  to  Him,  the  divine  power  of  the  blood  to  cleanse 
from  sin  and  to  give  abiding  access  to  the  presence  of  God.  Let 
him  who  would  know  to  the  full  the  mighty,  the  divine,  the 
inexpressible  power  and  blessing  the  blood  each  moment  can 
bring  in  Him,  remember,  it  was  through  the  Eternal  Spirit  it 
was  shed. 

In  connection  with  this  there  is  still  another  lesson.  The 
Spirit  not  only  applies  the  power  of  the  blood,  but  in  doing  so 
He  reveals  its  spiritual  meaning.  The  blood  has  its  value,  not 
from  the  mere  act  of  physical  suffering  and  death,  but  from  the 
inner  life  and  disposition  that  animated  Christ  in  shedding  it. 
It  is  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  who  offered  Himself  without 
blemish  unto  God,  w  ith  which  our  heart  is  brought  into  a  divine 
aTid  living  contact.  Self-offering,  self-sacrifice,  was  the  dis- 
position of  which  the  blood  was  the  expression,  and  from  which 
alone  it  had  its  worth.  Where  the  Eternal  Spirit  communicates 
the  power  of  the    blood.    He    communicates    this    disposition. 


Zbe  IboUest  of  Bll  305 


Christ  humbled  Himself  and  became  obedient  to  death.  There- 
fore, as  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  gave  His  blood,  He  was  the 
embodiment  of  meekness,  and  humility,  and  submissive  surrender 
to  God's  will.  It  was  our  pride  and  self-will  that  was  the  very 
root  and  life  of  sin  in  us :  as  we  are  washed  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  His  spirit  of  meekness  and  submissiveness 
and  obedience  will  work  in  us,  because  the  same  Eternal  Spirit, 
through  which  the  blood  was  shed,  applies  it  in  our  hearts. 
We  know  what  it  means  to  wash  our  clothes  in  water,  how 
they  are  plunged  into  it  and  saturated  with  it,  until  the 
water  carries  off  all  defilement.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
cleanses  from  all  sin,  because  the  Eternal  Spirit  imparts  the 
very  life  and  power  of  which  that  precious  blood-shedding  was 
the  outcome  and  the  fruit.  This  is  the  power  that  cleanses 
the  conscience  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God.  Not 
the  blood  only,  as  shed  upon  earth,  as  the  first  object  of  our 
faith  for  pardon,  but  the  blood  as  shed  through  the  Eternal 
Spirit,  and  glorified  in  the  spirit  life  of  heaven,  brings  us  truly 
into  the  inner  sanctuary,  and  empowers  us  to  serve  Him  as  the 
living  God,  "  As  nothing  but  the  Eternal  Spirit  could  have 
overcome  or  redeemed  fallen  nature,  as  Christ  took  it  upon 
Him,  so  nothing  can  possibly  overcome  or  redeem  the  fallen 
soul  or  body  of  any  child  of  Adam,  but  that  same  overcoming 
and  redeeming  Spirit,  really  living  and  acting  in  it,  in  the 
same  manner  as  it  did  in  the  humanity  of  Christ." 

We  live  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit — the  Spirit  of  God's 
Son,  who  hath  been  sent  for  this  itito  our  heart.  It  is  the 
dispensation  of  the  inner  life,  in  which  we  are  brought  into  the 
inner  sanctuary,  the  secret  of  His.  presence,  and  the  inner 
sanctuary  is  found  within  us, — in  that  secret  inner  place  which 

none  but  God's  Spirit  can  search  out.     In  that  hidden  depth  is 
20 


30t)  Zbc  t>oliest  of  ail 


the  house  God  hath  prepared  for  Himself;  there,  in  the  inner 
man,  the  Holy  Spirit  will  reveal,  in  a  way  that  sense  and  reason 
cannot  apprehend,  the  power  of  Christ's  blood  to  cleanse  and 
bring  God  nigh.  Oh  let  us  believe  the  infinite  mysteries  with 
which  we  are  surrounded.  And  above  all,  this  mystery  too, 
that  within  us,  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God — that 
mystery  of  mysteries — is  being  applied  and  kept  in  full  action 
by  the  Eternal  Spirit,  cleansing  us  and  revealing  God's  presence 
in  us. 

1.  What  a  mystery  .'  what  blessedness  !  a  heart  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  .' 
To  walk  before  God  day  by  day  with  the  blood  of  His  Son  upon  us  !  To  know  that  the  Lamb  of  God 
sees  us  washed  in  His  own  blood !  Oh,  we  need,  let  us  ask,  the  Eternal  Spirit  to  make  all  this 
clear  to  us. 

2.  If  our  faith  is  only  to  belieue  what  our  reason  can  make  clear  to  us— no  wonder  the  power 
of  the  blood  effects  so  little.  Let  us  have  faith,  not  in  what  we  understand,  but  let  us  have  faith 
in  God,  and  the  heavenly,  the  inexpressibly  glorious  realities,  of  the  blood  and  Spirit  of  the  Son. 

3.  What  a  tender,  careful,  holy  fear  comes  upon  a  soul  that  lives  in  the  full  and  living 
consciousness  of  the  blessed  reality— a  heart  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 

4.  Beware  of  trying  to  comprehend  all  the  blood  means,  or  of  being  discouraged  when  you  fail 
of  doing  so.  The  blood  in  heaven  is  a  divine  and  inscrutable  mystery  :  be  content  to  believe  in  its 
efficacy.  When  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  into  the  heart  in  power.  He  applies  the  blood  in  a  power  far 
beyond  what  we  can  think  or  understand. 


^be  ibolteet  of  Bll  307 


LXX. 

THE   POWER  OP  THE  BLOOD   TO   FIT  FOR  THE   SERVICE   OF 
THE    LIVING   GOD. 

IX.— 14.  How  much  more   shall  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanse  your   con- 
science from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God  ? 

We  mu.st  not  regard  the  cleansing  in  the  blood  of  Christ  as  the 
end,  the  final  aim,  of  redemption.  It  is  only  the  beginning,  the 
means  to  a  higher  end — tJie  fitness  for  the  service  of  the  living 
God.  It  is  the  restoration  to  the  fellowship  of  Him  who  has 
life  and  gives  life.  The  blood  gives  cleansing  from  dead  works, 
the  works  of  the  law  and  of  self,  with  its  own  efforts  ;  it  brings 
into  a  living  relation  to  the  living  God.  God  and  His  fellow- 
ship, a  life  in  His  love  and  service,  the  living  God  and  the 
enjoyment  of  His  presence, — this  is  the  aim  of  redemption. 

The  living"  God !  This  name  was  used  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  a  contrast  to  the  dead  idols  of  the  heathen.  In  the 
New  Testament  it  points  us  to  the  danger  of  our  forming  an 
image  of  God,  not  in  wood  or  stone,  but  in  our  mind  and 
imagination — athougkt-image,  in  which  there  is  neither  life  nor 
truth.  What  we  need  first  of  all  in  religion  is  that  we  believe 
that  God  is,  that  our  faith  realise  Him  as  the  living  One,  who  is 
all  that  He  is,  in  the  power  of  an  infinite  life  and  energy.  He  is 
the  living  God !  He  speaks  and  hears.  He  feels  and  acts. 
He  has  the  power  to  make  us  know  that  He  is  near  to  us,  and 
that  He  receives  us  when  we  come  near  to  Him.     The  know- 


308  zbe  IboUcet  of  m\ 


ledge  of  the  living  God  is  the  ground  of  a  living  faith,  a  living 
fellowship,  a  living  service.  As  the  living  God,  He  is  all,  and 
does  all  and  fills  all — the  ever-present,  ever-working  God. 

To  serve  the  living  God !  The  glory  of  the  creature  is  to 
serve  God,  to  be  a  vessel  in  which  He  can  pour  His  fulness, 
a  channel  through  which  He  can  show  forth  His  glory,  an 
instrument  for  working  out  His  purposes.  This  was  what 
man  was  created  for  in  the  image  of  God.  The  whole  object  of 
redemption  is  to  bring  us  back  to  a  hTe  in  the  living  service  of 
God.  It  is  for  this  the  Holiest  of  All  was  opened  to  us  by  the 
blood  as  the  place  of  service.  It  is  for  this  our  conscience  is 
cleansed  in  the  blood,  as  the  fitness  for  service.  A  life  in  the 
Hoh'est  of  All  is  a  life  in  which  everything  is  done  under  the 
sense  of  God's  glory  and  presence,  and  to  His  glory  ;  a  life  that 
has  no  object  but  the  service  of  God. 

It  was  thus  with  the  priests  in  Israel.  They  were  set  apart 
by  the  sprinkling  of  blood  (Ex.  xxix.  19,  20)  The  object  of 
this  was  (Deut.  x.  8)  to  fit  them  ^0  stand  before  the  Lord,  to 
minister  unto  Him,  to  bless  in  His  name.  One  great  reason 
why  many  Christians  never  enter  into  the  full  joy  and  power  of 
redemption,  into  the  life  within  the  veil,  is  that  they  seek  it  for 
themselves.  Let  us  beware  lest  we  seek  the  access  into  the 
Holiest,  the  joy  of  unclouded  fellowship  with  God,  the  power  of 
the  blood  to  cleanse,  only  for  the  sake  of  our  advance  in  holiness 
or  in  happiness.  The  whole  apj)ointment  of  the  sanctuary  and 
the  priests  was  that  there  might  be  men  who  could  come  before 
God  to  minister  to  Him.  and  t/iett  go  out  and  bless  their  fellow- 
men.  Christ  entered  through  His  blood  within  the  veil,  to  go 
and  serve  ;  to  be  a  minister  of  the  sanctuary  in  the  power  of  the 
blood,  by  which  He  could  cleanse  others  and  admit  them  too 
within  the  veil.    To  know  the  power  of  the  blood  to  cleanse  and 


^be  Ibolieat  of  mi  309 


admit  within  the  veil,  and  give  us  part  in  the  priests'  ministry  of 
blessing  men :  this  will  come  as  we  seek  it  as  fitness  to  serve 
the  living  God. 

How  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanse  your 
conscience  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God  ?  The 
cleansing  is  for  service.  There  was  a  great  difference  between 
the  people  in  the  outer  court  and  the  priests  within  the  taber- 
nacle. The  former  saw  the  blood  sprinkled  on  the  altar,  and 
trusted  for  forgiveness  ;  the  blood  was  not  applied  to  their 
persons.  The  priests  were  sprinkled  with  the  blood  ;  that  gave 
them  access  to  the  sanctuary  to  serve  God  there.  We  still  have 
outer-court  Christians,  who  look  at  Calvary,  and  trust  lor  forgive- 
ness, but  know  nothing  of  the  access  to  God  which  the  more 
direct  and  powerful  application  of  the  blood  from  heaven  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  gives.  Oh  let  us  give  ourselves  to  be  priests,  wholly 
separated  to  the  service  of  God,  wholly  given  up  to  God,  for 
Him  to  work  in  us  and  through  us  what  perishing  men  need, — 
our  consecration  to  this  service  will  urge  us  mightily  to  claim  an 
ever  mightier  experience  of  the  blood,  because  we  shall  feel  that 
nothing  less  than  a  full  entrance  into,  and  a  true  abiding  in  God's 
presence,  can  fit  us  for  doing  God's  work.  The  more  we  see 
and  approve  that  the  object  of  the  cleansing  must  only  be  for 
service,  the  more  shall  we  see  and  experience  that  the  power  for 
service  is  only  in  the  cleansing.^ 

How  much  more  shall  the  blood  cleanse  from  dead  works 

^  "  The  blood  contains  that  which  makes  white  (Rev.  vii.  14).  Not  only  the  man, 
but  his  garments  are  made  white.  This  is  more  than  cleansing.  It  is  the  word  used 
regarding  Christ's  transfiguration  garments  (Matt.  xvii.  2) ;  the  angel  robes 
(Matt,  xxvui.  3);  the  heavenly  clothing  (Rev.  iv.  4);  the  judgment  throne  (Rev. 
XX.  II),  whiter  than  snow,  M'hite  as  the  garments  of  Christ.  What  potency,  what 
excellency,  what  virtue  does  this  blood  contain !  How  it  beautifies !  How  it 
glorifies  !  "— H.  Bonar. 


•''lo  zbc  Iboltcst  of  ail 

to  serve  the  living  God !  If  we  experience  in  ourselves,  or  in 
those  around  us,  that  tlierc  is  little  of  the  power  and  presence 
of  the  living  God  in  our  religious  service,  we  have  here  the 
reason.  If  we  find  that  in  that  service  dead  works  still  prevail, 
and  that  in  prayer  and  preaching,  in  home  life  and  work  around 
us,  the  duties  of  "the  religious  life  are  performed  without  the 
power  of  the  life  and  Spirit  of  God,  let  us  learn  the  lesson — 
it  is  only  the  effectual  cleansing,  through  the  Eternal  Spirit,  of 
the  blood  that  has  been  taken  into  the  Holiest,  that  can  fit  us  to 
serve  the  living  God.  That  blood,  witnessed  to  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  brings  us  into  the  Holiest,  and  makes  God  to  us  a  living 
God  !  That  blood  brings  the  life  of  the  Holiest  into  our  hearts, 
cleanses  our  conscience  from  eveiy  dead  work,  from  every 
attempt  and  every  hope  to  do  anything  in  our  own  strength, 
gives  the  consciousness  that  we  are  now  ransomed  and  .set  free 
and  empowered  from  heaven  to  serve  the  God  of  heaven  in  the 
power  of  a  life  that  comes  from  heaven.  The  blood  of  Christ 
doth  indeed  cleanse  us  to  serve  the  living  God  ! 

/.  How  uain  it  would  have  been  for  anyone  to  sech  the  priestly  consecration  with  blood,  and 
the  entrance  into  the  sanctuary,  if  he  were  not  to  do  the  priest's  service.  Let  us  give  up  the  vain 
attempt.  Let  us  seek  the  power  of  the  blood  to  serve  the  living  God,  as  His  ministers  to  our 
fellow-men.  The  whole  inward  life  of  our  High  Priest,  which  He  imparts  to  us,  consisted  of  these 
two  things  :  it  was  a  life  in  the  will  of  God,  and  in  sclf-sacrificiny  love  to  men. 

2.  The  priests  honoured  the  blood  sprinkled  on  them  by  boldly  entering  the  tabernacle.  Oh 
let  us  honour  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  by  believing  that  it  gives  the  power  for  a  life  in  the  Holiest,  in 
the  service  of  the  living  God ! 

3.  Conscience  tells  me  what  I  must  think  of  myself.  The  blood  tells  me  what  Qod  thinks  of 
me,  A  conscience  cleansed  with  the  blood  Is  a  conscience  that  glories  in  this,  that  in  holiness 
and  in  sincerity  of  God  we  behave  ourselves  in  the  world. 

4.  Oh  to  realise  it  !  Christ  went  into  the  Holiest,  not  for  Himself,  but  for  us.  And  we  go  in, 
too,  by  His  blood  and  in  His  Spirit,  not  only  for  ourselves  but  for  others. 


Zbc  iboliegt  of  Bll  sii 


LXXI. 

THE   POWER   OF   CHRIST  S   DEATH   RATIFYING  THE  COVENANT. 

IX.— 15.  And  for  this  cause  he  is  the  mediator  of  a  new  covenant,  that  a 
death  having  taken  place  for  the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  that  were 
under  the  first  covenant,  they  that  have  been  called  may  receive  the  promise 
of  the  eternal  inheritance. 

16.  For  where  a  testament  is,  tliere  must  of  necessity  be  the  death  of  him 
that  made  it. 

17.  For  a  testament  is  of  force  where  there  hath  been  death :  for  doth  it 
ever  avail  v.diile  he  that  made  it  liveth  ? 

You  remember  how  in  chap.  viii.  we  found  two  names  given  to 
our  Lord  Jesus,  indicating  the  twofold  work  He  docs,  with  God 
in  heaven  and  in  our  heart  on  earth.  As  a  Minister  of  the 
sanctuary,  He  is  in  God's  presence,  ministering  the  grace  of  the 
sanctuary  to  us,  and  giving  us  the  enjoyment  of  that  presence. 
As  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  He  works  in  our  heart  on 
earth,  giving  God's  law  within  us,  as  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  His 
own  life,  and  fitting  us  for  the  worship  and  fellowship  of  the 
sanctuary.  In  the  first  half  of  this  chapter  we  have  had  the 
exposition  of  how  Christ,  as  Minister  of  the  sanctuary,  opened 
and  entered  into  it  through  His  own  blood,  and  there  ministers 
the  everlasting  redemption.  He  does  it  by  cleansing  our 
conscience,  in  the  power  of  that  blood  that  has  prevailed  to  open 
heaven,  to  enter  in  boldly  and  freely  to  serve  the  living  God.  In 
the  second  half  of  the  chapter  He  now  proceeds  to  speak  of 
Christ  as  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant.     With  the  same 


3i:i  Zbe  -ffjoltcst  of  HU 


blood  with  which  He  dedicated  the  sanctuary  He  has  dedicated 
the  covenant  too. 

And  for  this  cause  he  is  the  Mediator  of  a  new  covenant, 
that  they  that  have  been  called  may  receive  the  promise  of 
the  eternal  inheritance.  The  word  promise  reminds  of  what 
was  said  of  the  better  covenant,  enacted  upon  better  promises. 
The  word  inheritance  of  the  oath  of  God  and  the  inheriting 
the  promise  through  faith.  The  word  eternal  of  all  we  have 
heard  of  our  Melchizedek,  as  a  Priest  for  ever,  who  does  all 
His  work  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  Christ  has  become 
a  Mediator  of  this  new  covenant,  that  the  promise  of  the  eternal 
inheritance,  that  blessed  heritage  of  eternal  life  even  now  made 
manifest  in  the  promises  of  the  law  written  in  the  heart  and  full 
personal  fellowship  with  God,  might  be  our  portion  ;  it  is  the  work 
of  the  Mediator  to  ensure  our  inheriting  the  promises.  But  this 
could  not  be  till  a  death  had  taken  place  for  the  redemption  of 
the  transgressions  that  were  under  the  first  covenant.  The 
first  covenant  had  its  sanction  in  God's  appointment ;  the  new 
covenant  could  not  take  its  place  until  the  first  had  met  with 
full  satisfaction  for  its  claims.  There  was  no  way  for  this,  for 
the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  it  had  seen  and  condemned, 
but  by  a  death.  All  the  writer  had  meant  in  speaking  of  the 
blood,  he  now  includes  in  the  expression,  a  death.  The  change 
of  the  expression  reminds  us  how  the  two  are  one.  The  blood 
is  through  the  death  ;  the  death  is  for  the  blood.  The  blood- 
shedding  and  the  death  are  the  redemption,  the  ransom,  that 
by  sin-bearing  and  atonement  deliver  from  transgressions  and 
their  power.  All  the  transgressions  of  the  old  covenant  had 
been  treasured  up  ;  the  death  of  Christ  gave  satisfaction  to  all 
that  that  covenant  could  claim,  and  brought  release.  So  the 
Mediator  oi  the  new  covenant  begins  an  entirely  new  economy, 


ZJoe  Ibolicst  of  %n  3i3 


with  sin  put  away  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself,  and  an  open 
path  to  the  beginning  of  a  new  life  in  the  favour  and  power  of 
God. 

Now  follow  two  verses  which  have  caused  no  little  difficulty. 
In  English  we  have  for  one  word  in  Greek  two  words  of  entirely 
different  meaning.  The  word  "  covenant,"  a  treaty  between  two 
parties,  and  "  testament,"  the  last  will  by  which  one  party  leaves 
his  property  to  another,  are  the  same  in  Greek.  Through  the 
whole  of  Scripture  the  word  may  always  best  be  translated 
"covenant,"  with  the  exception  of  the  two  following  verses.  Here 
the  argument  renders  the  meaning  "testament "  or  "will"  necessary. 
For  where  a  testament  is,  there  must  of  necessity  be  the  death 
of  him  that  made  it.  For  a  testament  is  of  force  where  there 
hath  been  death :  for  doth  it  ever  avail  while  he  that  made 
it  liveth?  It  is  as  if  the  author  turns  aside  for  a  moment,  led 
to  it  by  what  he  had  just  said  of  them  who  receive  the  eternal 
inheritance,  to  use  the  other  meaning  of  the  Greek  word  in 
order  to  prove  how,  in  every  connection,  a  death  is  indispens- 
able. He  had  spoken  of  Christ's  death  as  the  sacrifice  by  which 
the  covenant  was  ratified.  To  confirm  the  thought  he  adds  : 
"  W  hen  one  who  has  made  a  testament  dies,  he  passes  away,  and 
the  heir  takes  his  place, — even  so  Jesus,  the  Heir  of  all  things, 
in  His  death  gave  up  all,  that  we  might  stand  in  His  place,  and 
inherit  all." 

Would  God  that  our  hearts  might  take  it  in.  A  death  having 
taken  place  !  Now  tlie  covenant  is  sure.  The  redemption  of  past 
transgressions  is  sure  ;  we  may  now  claim  and  take  the  promise 
of  the  eternal  inheritance.  A  death  having  taken  place  !  Now 
the  testament  avails.  The  maker  of  the  testament  has  died,  to 
put  us  in  complete  possession  of  all  He  had  and  all  He  won  for 
us.     And,  praise  God  !  He  lives  again,  as  no  other  maker  of  a 


314  Zbc  Doliest  of  flU 


testament  ever  lives,  to  put  us  in  full  possession  of  the  inherit- 
ance, and  to  be  I  Hmself  its  chiefest  measure  and  joy;  as  Minister 
of  the  true  sanctuary  to  keep  us  in  God's  presence  ;  as  Mediator 
of  the  new  covenant  to  keep  our  heart  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  all  its  blessings. 

1.  Everyone  van  understand  hoiu  absolutely  a  last  will  or  testament  needs  a  death.  This 
must  help  us  to  believe  that  a  covenant  needs  it  as  much  for  the  redemption  of  transgres- 
sions. As  sure  as  the  death  of  a  maker  of  a  testament  puts  the  heir  in  complete  possession 
of  the  promise,  so  surely  has  the  death  of  the  Mediator  made  a  perfect  redemption  from  all 
transgression. 

2.  Let  us  get  firmly  hold  of  this :  in  virtue  of  His  death  the  first  covenant  could  be  set 
aside  and  the  second  dedicated  with  His  blood.  The  second  covenant  has  entirely  to  do  with 
keeping  our  heart  and  life  in  a  right  state  for  entering  the  sanctuary  and  abiding  there.  Let 
me  believe  it  can  and  shall  be  fulfilled. 


TLbc  Iboliest  of  mi  sis 


LXXII. 

EVEN  THE  FIRST  COVENANT-NOT  WITHOUT  BLOOD. 

IX.— 18.  Wherefore  even  the  first  covenant  hath  not  been  dedicated  with- 
out blood. 

19.  For  when  every  commandment  had  been  spoken  by  Moses  iinto  all 
the  people  according  to  the  law,  he  took  the  blood  of  the  calves  and  the  goats, 
wiUi  water  and  scarlet  wool  and  hyssop,  and  sprinkled  both  the  book  itself 
and  all  the  people,  saying, 

20.  This  is  the  blood  oi  the^covenant  which  God  commanded  to  you-ward. 

21.  Moreover  the  tabernacle  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  ministry  he 
sprinkled  in  like  manner  with  the  blood. 

22.  And  according  to  the  law,  I  may  almost  say,  all  things  are  cleansed 
with  blood,  and  apart  fit-om  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission. 

The  writer  return.s  here  to  the  idea  of  the  covenant  in  ver.  15. 
He  had  there  said  that  a  death  was  needed  for  the  redemption 
of  the  transgressions  under  the  first  covenant,  ere  Christ,  as 
Mediator  of  the  new,  could  put  the  heirs  in  possession  of  the 
promise.  In  confirmation  of  this  necessity,  he  reminds  us  how 
even  the  first  covenant  was  not  dedicated  without  blood. 

God  has  made  more  than  one  covenant  with  man,  but  ever, 
not  without  blood!  And  why?  We  know  th?  answer  (Lev. 
xvii.  11):  The  life  [sowX)  of  tlie  flesh  is  in  the  blood;  and  I  have 
given  it   to  you   upon   the   altar   to   make   atonement  for  your 


316  zbc  -boliest  of  ail 


S(>t{/s ;  for  it  is  the  blood  that  maketh  atonement  by  reason  of 
the  life.  The  life  is  in  the  blood.  The  blood  shed  is  the 
token  of  death,  life  taken  away.  Death  is  always  and  every- 
where God's  judgment  on  sin :  The  sting  of  death  is  sin. 
The  shed  blood  sprinkled  upon  the  altar,  or  the  person,  is  the 
proof  that  death  has  been  endured,  that  the  penalty  of  the 
transgressions,  for  which  atonement  is  being  made,  has  been 
borne.  In  some  cases  the  hands  were  laid  upon  the  head  of 
the  sacrifice,  confessing  over  it,  and  laying  upon  it,  the  sin  to  be 
atoned  for.  The  shed  blood  upon  the  altar  was  the  pledge 
that  God  accepted  the  death  of  the  substitute  :  the  sins  were 
covered  by  the  blood,  and  the  guilty  one  restored  to  God's 
favour.  Apart  from  blood-shedding  there  is  no  remission ; 
in  the  blood-shedding  there  is  remission,  full  and  everlasting. 

Not  without  blood !  This  is  the  wondrous  note  that  rings 
through  all  Scripture,  from  Abel's  sacrifice  at  the  gate  of 
paradise  to  the  song  of  the  ransomed  in  Revelations.  God 
is  willing  to  receive  fallen  man  back  again  to  His  fellowship,  to 
admit  him  to  His  heart  and  Mis  love,  to  make  a  covenant  with 
him,  to  give  full  assurance  of  all  this;  but^not  without  blood. 
Even  His  own  Son,  the  Almighty  and  All-perfect  One,  the  gift 
of  His  eternal  love,  even  He  could  only  redeem  us.  and  enter 
the  Father's  presence,  in  submission  to  the  word,  not  without 
blood.  J^ut,  blessed  be  God,  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God, 
in  which  there  was  the  life  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  has  been  given, 
and  has  now  wrought  an  eternal  redemption  !  He  did,  indeed, 
bear  our  sins,  and  take  them  away.  He  put  away  sin  by 
the  sacrifice  of  Himself  The  life  He  poured  out  in  His 
blood-shedding  was  a  life  that  had  conquered  sin.  and  rendered 
a  perfect  obedience.  The  blood-shedding  as  the  completion  of 
that  life,  in  its  surrender  to  God  and  man,  has  made  a  complete 


^be  ibollest  ot  Bil  317 


atonement,  a  covering  up,  a  putting  away  of  sin.  And  so  the 
blood  of  the  new  co\'enant,  in  which  God  remembers  our  sins  no 
more,  cleanses  our  heart  to  receive  His  law  so  into  it,  that  the 
spirit  of  His  law  is  the  spirit  of  our  life,  and  takes  us  into  full 
and  direct  fellowship  with  Himself.  It  was  in  this  blood  of 
the  eternal  covenant  that  God  brought  again  from  the  dead 
our  Lord  Jesus  :  the  blood  had  so  atoned  for  sin  and  made  an 
end  of  it  that,  in  its  power,  Christ  was  raised  again.  It  became 
the  power  of  a  new  life  to  Him  and  to  us.  With  it  He  opened 
the  way  into  the  Holiest  for  us  ;  the  way  into  our  hearts  for 
Himself 

Not  without  blood  !  In  earth  and  heaven,  in  each  moment 
of  our  life,  in  each  thought  and  act  of  worship,  this  word  reigns 
supreme.  There  can  be  no  fellowship  with  God,  but  in  the 
blood,  in  the  death,  of  His  blessed  Son. 

But,  praised  be  His  name,  in  that  blood  there  is  an  access 
and  a  fellowship,  a  life  and  a  blessedness,  a  nearness  and  a  love, 
that  passeth  understanding !  Let  us  seek  to  cultivate  large 
thoughts  of  what  the  blood  has  effected  and  can  effect.  Men 
have  sometimes  rejected  the  word :  its  associations  are  so 
coarse  and  at  variance  with  a  finer  culture.  Others  do  not 
reject  it,  and  yet  have  not  been  able  to  sympathise  with  or 
approve  the  large  place  it  sometimes  takes  in  theology  and 
devotion.  The  strange  fascination,  the  irresistible  attraction 
the  word  has,  is  not  without  reason.  There  is  not  a  word  in 
Scripture  in  which  all  theology  is  so  easily  summed  up.  All 
that  Scripture  teaches  of  sin  and  death,  of  the  incarnation  and 
the  love  of  Christ,  of  redemption  and  salvation,  of  sin  and  death 
conquered,  of  heaven  opened  and  the  Spirit  poured  out,  of  the 
new  covenant  blessings,  of  a  perfect  conscience  and  a  clean 
heart,  and  access  to  God  and  power  to  serve  Him,  personal 


31S  Sbe  Dolicdt  of  Bll 


attachment  to  Jesus,  and  of  the  joy  of  eternity,  has  its  root 
and  its  fruit  in  this  alone :  the  precious  blood  of  Christ ; 
the  blood  of  the  eternal  covenant. 

7.  Hear  what  Steinhofer  says :  "  One  drop  of  that  blood,  sprinkled  out  of  the  sanctuary  on 
the  heart,  changes  the  whole  heart,  perfects  the  conscience,  sanctifies  the  soul,  makes  the 
garments  clean  and  white,  so  that  we  are  meet  for  fellowship  with  God,  ready  and  able  to  Hue  in 
His  hue.  Such  a  heart,  sprinkled  and  cleansed  with  the  blood  of  Jesus,  is  now  fitted  for  all  the 
grace  of  the  new  covenant,  all  the  heavenly  gifts,  all  the  holy  operations  of  diuine  love,  all  the 
spiritual  blessings  of  the  heavenly  places.  The  blood  of  the  Lamb  does  indeed  mahe  the  sinner 
pure  and  holy,  worthy  and  fit  to  partahe  of  all  that  the  inner  sanctuary  contains,  and  to  Hue  in 
God.  Therefore  the  apostle  says :  Let  us,  as  those  whose  hearts  are  sprinkled  from  an  evil 
conscience,  boldly  draw  near  before  the  face  of  God.  To  be  sprinkled  with  the  blood,  to  have 
the  living,  cleansing,  all-pervading  power  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  in  the  heart,— this  fits  us  for 
serving  God,  not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter  but  in  the  newness  of  the  Spirit. " 


^be  Doliest  of  Bit  319 


LXXIII. 

HEAVEN  ITSELF  CLEANSED  BY  THE  BLOOD. 

IX.— 23.  It  was  necessary  therefore  that  the  copies  of  the  things  in  the 
heavens  should  be  cleansed  with  these;  but  the  heavenly  things  themselves 
with  better  sacrifices  than  these. 

24.  For  Christ  entered  not  into  a  holy  place  made  with  hands,  like  in 
pattern  to  the  true ;  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  before  the  face  of 
God  for  us. 

In  the  previous  verses  we  saw  how,  at  the  dedication  of  the 
first  covenant  with  blood,  both  the  book  and  the  people  and, 
later  on,  the  tabernacle  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  ministry,  were 
sprinkled  with  blood.  Even  so,  the  writer  tells  us,  the  blood- 
shedding  on  earth  was  not  enough,  but  there  was  a  needs-be  that 
the  heavenly  things  themselves  be  cleansed  with  the  blood  of  the 
better  sacrifice,  ere  heaven  could  be  opened  to  us,  and  we  obtain 
access  to  a  life  in  the  presence  of  God.  There  must  not  a  vestige 
or  sign  of  sin  be  left  there,  to  rise  up  against  us.  Such  is  the  power 
of  this  better  sacrifice  and  its  blood,  that  the  heavenly  things 
themselves  were  cleansed  by  it,  and  that  Christ  our  surety  with 
His  own  blood,  entered  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  before 
the  face  of  God  for  us.  The  heavenly  things  themselves 
cleansed,  and  Christ  entered  into  heaven  itself  for  us, — these 
are  the  two  aspects  of  the  eternal  redemption  here  put  before  us. 
The  heavenly  things  themselves  cleansed.  What  can  this 
mean  ?     We  speak  of  the  heavens  being  dark,  black  with  clouds. 


320  Jibe  t)olicdt  of  ail 


The  light  of  the  sun  is  there,  but  clouded.  When  the  clouds  are 
gone  the  heavens  are  bright  and  clear.  God's  word  speaks  of 
our  sins  rising  up  as  a  cloud,  as  a  smoke  before  Him.  Our  sins 
are  come  up  before  Him,  are  in  His  presence,  written  in  His 
book  of  remembrance,  calling  for  vengeance.  God  says  to  Israel : 
/  /uit^e  blotted  out  as  a  thick  cloud  thy  transgressions,  and  as 
a  cloud  thy  sins.  Just  as  the  tabernacle  had  to  be  sprinkled 
and  cleansed  and  hallowed  from  all  the  ujicleanness  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  so  the  heavenly  things  themselves  by  the 
blood  of  Christ.  As  the  blood  was  brought  in,  every  vestige  of  a 
thought  of  sin  was  removed  out  of  God's  presence  ;  the  heavens 
were  cleansed;  the  heavens  are  now  clear  and  bright,  and  the 
love  of  God  can  shine  out  in  noonday  glory. 

And  this  because  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  Holiest,  made 
w  ith  hands,  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  before  the 
face  of  God  for  us.  This  is  the  great  consummation  to  which  all 
the  teaching  of  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  Christ,  and  the  true 
sanctuary,  and  the  blood  of  the  covenant  leads  up.  Heaven  itself 
is  now  opened  up  to  us.  Christ  has  entered,  not  simply  on  His 
own  behalf,  but  entirely  to  appear  before  the  face  of  God  for  us. 
Yes,  for  us,  His  entering  in  has  obtained  for  us  boldness  to 
enter  in.  I  lis  cMitcring  in  was  through  the  rent  veil ;  there  is  no 
veil  now  between  God  and  us.  We  are  called  to  draw  nigh  in 
the  fulness  of  faith.  We  are  taught.  Ye  are  come  to  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  and  to  God.  Before  the  face  of  God,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  is  now  the  home  of  the  soul.  Heaven  is  not  only  a 
locality,  with  its  limitations,  but  a  state  of  life,  that  condition  of 
spiritual  existence  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  God's  love  and 
fellowship,  into  which  Christ  entered.  Christ  passed  through 
the  heavens,  was  made  higher  than  the  heavens.  He 
ascended  far  above  all  the  heavens,  that  He  might  fill  all  things. 


Zhc  IboUcst  of  Hll  321 


Heaven  itself,  the  Holiest  of  All,  into  which  He  entered,  the 
presence  of  God,  is  now  the  sphere  in  which  He  exercises  His 
heavenly  ministry,  into  which  He  brings  us  in  as  an  actual  life 
and  experience,  in  which  we  alone  can  truly  serve  the  living 
God. 

And  what,  we  may  well  ask,  what  is  the  reason  that  so  few 
of  God's  children  can  testify  to  the  joy  of  entering  in  and  having 
their  abode  here  in  the  very  presence  of  God  ?  There  can  be 
but  one  answer.  There  is  such  a  difference  between  being  the 
heir  of  a  promise  and  actually  inheriting  it.  Each  of  the  great 
words  of  our  Epistle,  as  God's  gift  to  each  one  of  His  children, 
has  an  infinitude  of  meaning  and  blessing  and  power  in  it. 
Christ  a  Priest  for  ever;  the  power  of  an  endless  life;  He 
is  able  to  sympathise,  able  to  succour,  able  to  save  com- 
pletely ;  the  true  sanctuary,  the  new  covenant,  the  blood  cleans- 
ing the  heavens,  cleansing  the  conscience, — all  these  are  divine 
realities,  with  a  power  and  a  glory  that  the  heart  of  man  cannot 
conceive.  It  is  only  by  faith  and  longsuffering  that  we  inherit 
the  promises.  It  is  as  we  give  up  our  whole  heart  and  life  to 
be  just  one  act  of  faith,  looking  up  and  longing,  praising  and 
expecting,  believing  and  receiving  what  God  gives  and  works  in 
Christ,  that  this  life  in  the  Holiest  will  be  ours.  It  is  as  our 
faith  sees  the  divine  unity  of  the  once  for  all  and  the  for  ever, 
that  we  shall  be  bold  to  believe  that  the  for  ever,  the  abiding 
continually,  has  in  Christ  been  made  ours  once  for  all,  and  can 
be  made  ours  in  an  entering  within  the  veil  as  clear  as  that  of 
Christ's.  This  faith  will  prove  itself  in  longsuffering.  First,  as 
we  diligently,  perseveringly  hold  fast,  and  gaze  and  draw  nigh 
and  wait  on  God  to  take  us  within  the  veil ;  and  then,  as 
within  the  veil,  in  deepest  humility  and  meekness  and  patience 

and  resignation  to  God,  we  wait  upon  Him  in  service,  to  perfect 
21 


322  c:bc  lbolic6t  of  ail 


us    in    the  work   for   which   we   were  admitted   into   His  very 
presence. 

But  remember  where  all  this  begins,  and  wherein  it  all  con- 
sists. Not  without  blood !  With  His  own  blood !  How  much 
more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ !  These  words  are  the  key  to 
this  blessed  chapter  of  the  opening  of  the  Holiest  to  us.  As 
we  yield  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Eternal  Spirit,  to  testify  to  us 
how  the  way  into  the  Holiest  has  been  made  manifest,  and  what 
the  blood  is  by  which  it  was  done,  and  what  the  cleansing  of 
our  conscience  in  that  blood  to  enter  in  and  serve  the  living 
God,  we  shall  in  fulness  of  faith  be  bold  to  draw  nigh  and  enter 
in  and  abide. 

r.  Thinh  not  that  it  will  be  too  difficult  for  thee  to  dwell  always  with  thy  heart  up  yonder  in 
heaven.  When  the  sun  shines  on  thee,  thou  dost  not  think  of  its  distance ;  thou  rejoicest  in  its 
warmth.  It  is  so  near  to  thee  ;  thou  enterest  into  it,  and  it  enters  into  thee.  Even  so  with  Jesus 
and  the  heavenly  life.  Heauen  comes  down.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  come  with  power ;  the 
Holy  Spirit  gives  and  maintains  it  in  thee.  The  veil  is  rent,  and  the  light  and  life  of  heaven  is 
come  down  here  where  we  serve  in  the  Holy  Place. 

2.  To  open  the  way  to  heaven  and  to  God,  Jesus  died  to  sin.  He  that  hates  and  loses  his  life 
will  find  the  way  to  the  life  of  God. 

3.  Just  as  the  cleansing  of  the  tabernacle  was  part  of  the  dedicating  of  the  first  covenant,  so 
the  sprinkling  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  the  cleansing  of  the  heavens  with  the  blood  of  the  new 
covenant,  is  our  assurance  that  the  sanctuary  is  open  to  us,  and  that  the  covenant  is  sure  and  will 
be  fulfilled  to  us. 


Zbc  iboliest  of  Hll  323 


LXXIV. 

SIN   PUT   AWAY   BY   THE    SACRIFICE    OF   HIMSELF. 

IX.— 25.  Nor  yet  that  he  should  offer  himself  often ;  as  the  high  priest 
entereth  Into  the  Holy  Place  year  by  year  with  blood  not  his  own ; 

26.  Else  must  he  often  have  suffered  since  the  foundation  of  the  world :  but 
now  once  at  the  end  of  the  ages  hath  he  been  manifested  to  put  away  sin  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself 

27.  And  inasmuch  as  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  tliis 
Cometh  judgment ; 

28.  So  Christ  also,  having  been  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many, 
shall  appear  a  second  time,  apart  from  sin,  to  them  that  wait  for  him,  unto 
salvation. 

In  the  previou.s  venses  the  spiritual  and  heavenly  character  of 
Christ's  work  was  contrasted  with  the  material  and  earthly 
figures  of  the  old  worship.  Here  the  contrast  will  be  between 
the  unceasing  repetition  of  the  old  and  the  once  and  for  ever  of 
the  new.  Repetition  is  the  proof  of  imperfection :  what  needs 
doing  only  once  is  finished,  is  perfect,  is  for  ever.  Now  once  at 
the  end  of  the  ages  hath  He  been  manifested  to  put  away  sin 
by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself  As  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once 
to  die,  and  after  this  the  judgment — with  death,  life  is  finished 
and  complete,  and  ripe  for  judgment ;  after  that  comes  the  full 
revelation  of  what  that  death  was — so  Christ  also,  having  been 
once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  shall  appear  a  second 
time — in  the  full  manifestation  of  what  that  death  accomplished 
— without  sin,  to  them  that  wait  for  Him,  unto  salvation. 


324  XTbc  Ibolfest  of  HII 


What  is  done  once  is  done  for  ever  :  all  it  waits  for  is  the  ever- 
lasting^ manifestation  of  what  is  already  perfect  and  complete. 

Christ,  now  once  manifested  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  Himself — this  is  the  great  lesson  of  our  passage.  What 
Christ  effected  by  His  dying  once,  is  for  ever.  And  what  He 
did  effect  was  this — He  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Him- 
self He  was  manifested  to  put  it  away  out  of  God's  presence, 
out  of  His  book  and  His  remembrance — to  put  it  away  from  us, 
so  that  it  has  no  more  power  over  us,  and  we  enter  upon  an 
entirely  new  state  of  life,  with  sin  removed  and  God's  law 
written  in  our  heart. 

The  question  comes  up,  Is  not  the  expression  too  strong? 
Is  not  the  experience  of  the  Church  a  proof  that  it  cannot  be 
meant  so  literally?  The  solution  of  the  difficulty  will  be  found 
in  a  truth  that  leads  us  into  one  of  the  deepest  mysteries  of  the 
spiritual  life.  As  we  saw  in  our  last  meditation,  the  words  of 
God  have  a  divine,  an  infinite  fulness  of  meaning.  They  set 
before  us  what  is  an  actual  fact,  a  divine  reality,  a  spiritual  truth 
in  the  power  of  the  endless  life.  But  this  truth  is  seldom  fully 
understood  or  accepted  by  belie\crs.  And  as  their  knowledge 
limits  their  faith,  and  their  faith  their  experience,  the  human 
exposition  and  witness  of  what  God  means  seldom  if  ever 
reaches  to  the  fulness  of  what  the  word  contains.  We  limit  the 
I  loly  One  of  Israel  perhaps  most  when  we  think  we  honour  Him, 
by  thinking  that  we  know  and  hold  in  our  formulas  all  His  word 
means.  With  its  divine  contents  the  word  infinitely  exceeds  our 
apprehension,  and  ever  invites  us  to  press  on  to  perfection,  and 
prove  the  deeper  and  higher  truth  there  is  still  hidden  in  the  old 
familiar  words.  It  is  as  we  yield  ourselves  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
whose  it  is  to  reveal  the  power  of  the  blood  and  the  opening  of 
the  way  into  the  Holiest,  that  we  shall  be  led  to  inherit  this 


^be  Ibolicat  of  »ll  325 


promise  too,  in  all  its  divine  significance — sin  put  away  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Himself. 

By  the  sacrifice  of  Himself.  The  words  reveal  the  inmost 
meaning  of  the  death  of  Christ :  it  was  self-sacrifice.  Sin,  in  its 
deepest  root,  is  a  turning  from  God  to  self;  rejecting  God  to 
please  self  From  the  wilderness  to  the  garden  this  was  the 
one  temptation  with  which  Satan  sought  to  lead  Him  astray. 
By  doing  not  His  own  will  but  the  will  of  His  Father,  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Himself  to  God  and  His  will.  He  conquered  sin  in 
His  own  person,  and  gained  a  victory  over  it  whereby  it  was  for 
ever  vanquished  and  brought  to  nought.  He  gave  Himself  up 
to  death,  as  His  submittal  to  it  to  do  its  utmost,  rather  than 
yield  to  its  temptation.  He  gave  Himself  up  to  death,  as  His 
submittal  to  God's  righteous  judgment  upon  sin.  It  was  in  this 
that  His  death  to  sin,  as  the  obedient  One,  that  His  death y^r 
sin,  as  our  Substitute,  had  its  power,  and  His  atonement  its 
efficacy.  To  Him,  our  Head,  death  was  a  personal  spiritual 
victory,  and  thereby  a  vicarious  propitiation.  In  both  aspects 
He  made  an  end  of  sin,  and  of  both  we  are  made  par- 
takers. 

And  how  ?  By  the  sacrifice  of  Himself  He  put  away  sin.^ 
And  now  He  offers  us  Himself  to  take  the  place  of  sin.  He  gives 
Himself,  the  sacrificed  One,  who  has  finished  redemption,  to  us 
to  put  away  sin  within  us,  too.  It  is  as  the  Son,  the  living  One, 
that  He  is  High  Priest ;  it  is  in  eternal  life  power,  by  a  life 
working  in  us,  that  He  brings  us  to  God.  And  so,  by  His  Spirit, 
He,  in  His  self-sacrifice,  lives  in  us,  and  makes  it  true  in  the 

1  "  The  putling  away  of  sin.  The  thought  goes  beyond  the  redemption  from 
transgressions  (ver.  15).  It  is  hterally  for  the  disannulling  of  sin  (comp.  vii.  18).  Sin 
is  vanquished,  shown  in  its  weakness,  'set  at  nought'  (Marl;  vii.  9  ;  Gal.  iii.  15)- "— 
IVestcott, 


326  zbe  Dolleet  of  ail 


experience  of  each  true  disciple — sin  put  away  by  the  sacrifice 
of  self.     The  law  for  the  Head  is  the  law  for  every  member. 

And  now  the  alternative  is  put  before  us  :  Which  shall  it  be  ? 
Sin  and  myself  or  Christ  and  His  Self.  Christ  has  opened  for 
us  a  heavenly  life-sphere,  out  of  which  sin  has  been  put  away — 
the  sanctuary  of  God's  presence.  Which  shall  it  be — self- 
pleasing  or  self-sacrifice — a  life  in  self  or  a  life  in  Christ. 
Though  we  may  not  always  be  able  to  see  fully  all  that  Christ's 
work  means,  or  realise  all  the  riches  of  blessing  it  brings,  there  is 
one  word  not  difficult  to  carry  in  which  all  is  centred.  That 
word  is  Himself.  He  gave  Himself  a  sacrifice  for  sin  ;  He  gives 
Himself  the  putter  away,  the  conqueror  of  sin;  He  is  Himself 
all  we  can  desire  or  need.  P)lessed  the  soul  that  rests  m  nothing 
less  than  HIMSELF. 

7.  Sin  is  the  refusal  to  sacrifice  one's  self  to  God.  Self-sacrifice  in  tiie  fellowship  ami  Spirit 
of  Jesus  is  the  way  out  of  sin  to  God. 

2.  Christ  as  our  Head  is  our  Substitute.  The  value  of  His  worb  as  Substitute  rests  in  His  per- 
sonal character  and  obedience.  The  two  aspects  are  inseparable  both  in  Him  and  in  us.  We  draw 
nigh  to  Him  and  accept  Him,  and  are  saved  at  once  by  Him  as  our  Substitute.  But  then  we  are  at 
once  implanted  into  Him,  and  the  spirit  in  which  He  worked  our  salvation  is  imparted  to  us.  And 
so  salvation  by  sacrifice,  putting  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  self ,  rules  our  whole  being. 


Zbc  Ibolieet  of  mi  327 


SECTION  EIGHT.-x.   1-18. 
The  New  Way  into  the  Holiest. 


LXXV. 

THE    SACRIFICES    OF    THE    LAW   CANNOT    MAKE    PERFECT.' 

X.— 1.  For  the  law  having  a  shadow  of  the  good  things  to  come,  not  the 
very  image  of  the  things,  they  can  never  with  the  same  sacrifices  year  by 
year,  which  they  offer  continually,  make  perfect  them  that  draw  nigh. 

2.  Else  would  they  not  have  ceased  to  be  offered,  because  the  worship- 
pers, having  been  once  cleansed,  would  have  had  no  more  conscience  of  sins  ? 

3.  But  in  those  sacrifices  there  is  a  remembrance  made  of  sins  year  by 
year. 

4.  For  it  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  should  take  away 
sins. 

We  have  now  seen  the  Priest  for  ever,  able  to  save  completely  1 
(chap,  vii.) ;  the  true  sanctuary  in  which  He  ministers  (chap, 
viii.) ;  and  the  blood  through  which  the  sanctuary  was  opened, 
and  we  are  cleansed  to  enter  in  (chap.  ix.).  There  is  still  a 
fourth  truth  of  which  mention  has  been  made  in  passing,  but 
which  has  not  yet  been  expounded,  What  is  the  way  into  the 
Holiest,  by  which  Christ  entered  in  ?  What  is  the  path  in 
which  He  walked  when  He  went  to  shed  His  blood  and  pass 
through  the  veil  to  enter  in  and  appear  before  God  ?  In  other 
words,  what  was  it  that  gave  His  sacrifice  its  worth,  and  what  the 


828  xrbe  -fcollcet  of  ail 


disposition,  the  inner  essential  nature  of  that  mediation  that 
secured  His  acceptance  as  our  High  Priest.  The  answer  to  be 
given  in  the  first  eighteen  verses  of  this  chapter  will  form  the 
conclusion  of  the  doctrinal  half  of  the  Epistle,  and  especially  of 
the  higher  teaching  it  has  for  the  perfect. 

To  prepare  the  way  for  the  answer,  the  chapter  begins  with 
once  again  reminding  us  of  the  impotence  of  the  law.  The  law 
having  a  shadow  of  the  good  things  to  come,  not  the  very- 
image  of  the  things.  The  law  had  only  the  shadow,  not  the 
substance.  The  gospel  gives  us  the  very  image.  The  image 
of  God  in  which  man  was  created  was  an  actual  spiritual  reality. 
The  Son  Himself,  as  the  image  of  the  Father,  was  His  true 
likeness — ever  in  possession  of  His  Father's  life  and  glory. 

When  man  makes  an  image,  it  is  but  a  dead  thing.  When 
God  gives  an  image  it  is  a  living  reality,  sharing  in  the  life  and 
the  attributes  of  the  original.  And  so  the  gospel  brings  us  not 
a  shadow,  a  picture,  a  mental  conception,  but  the  very  image  of 
the  heavenly  things,  so  that  we  know  and  have  them,  really 
taste  and  possess  them.  A  shadow  is  first  of  all  a  picture,  an 
external  figure,  giving  a  dim  apprehension  of  good  things  to 
come.  Then,  as  the  external  passes  away,  and  sight  is  changed 
into  faith,  there  comes  a  clearer  conception  of  divine  and  heavenly 
blessings.  And  then  faith  is  changed  into  possession  and 
experience,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  makes  the  power  of  Christ's 
redemption  and  the  heavenly  life  a  reality  within  us.  Some 
Christians  never  get  beyond  the  figures  and  shadows  ;  some 
advance  to  faith  in  the  spiritual  good  set  forth  ;  blessed  the)- 
who  go  on  to  full  possession  of  what  faith  had  embraced. 

In  expounding  what  the  law  is  not  able  to  do,  the  writer 
uses  four  remarkable  expressions  which,  while  they  speak  of  the 
weakness  of  the  law  with  its  shadows,  indicate  at  the  same  time 


Zbc  Iboltest  of  mi  329 


what  the  good  things  to  come  are,  of  which  Christ  is  to  bring  us 
the  very  image,  the  divine  experience. 

The  priests  can  never  make  perfect  them  that  draw  nigh. 
This  is  what  Christ  can  do.  He  makes  the  conscience  perfect. 
He  hath  perfected  us  for  ever.  These  words  suggest  the  infinite 
difference  between  what  the  law  could  do,  and  Christ  has  truly 
brought.  What  they  mean  in  the  mind  of  God,  and  what  Christ 
our  High  Priest  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life  can  make 
them  to  be  to  us,  this  the  Holy  Spirit  will  reveal.  Let  us  be 
content  with  no  easy  human  exposition,  by  which  we  are  content 
to  count  the  ordinary  low  experience  of  the  slothful  Christian — 
the  hope  of  being  pardoned,  as  an  adequate  fulfilment  of  what 
God  means  by  the  promises  of  the  perfect  conscience.  Let  us 
seek  to  know  the  blessing  in  its  heavenly  power. 

The  worshippers  once  cleansed  would  have  had  no  more 
conscience  of  sins.  This  is  the  perfect  conscience — when  there 
is  no  more  conscience  of  sins — a  conscience  that,  once  cleansed 
in  the  same  power  in  which  the  blood  was  once  shed,  knows 
how  completely  sin  has  been  put  away  out  of  that  sphere  of 
spiritual  fellowship  with  God  to  which  it  has  found  access. 

In  those  sacrifices  there  is  a  remembrance  made  of  sins 
year  by  year.  The  cleansing  of  the  heavens  and  the  putting 
away  of  sin  is  so  complete  that  with  God  our  sins  are  no  more 
remembered.  And  it  is  meant  that  the  soul  that  enters  fully 
into  the  Holiest  of  All,  and  is  kept  there  by  the  power  of  the 
eternal  High  Priest,  should  have  such  an  experience  of  His 
eternal,  always  lasting,  always  acting  redemption,  that  there 
shall  be  no  remembrance  of  aught  but  of'what  He  is  and  does 
and  will  do.  As  we  live  in  the  heavenly  places,  in  the  Holiest 
of  All,  we  live  where  there  is  no  more  remembrance  of  sins. 

It  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  should 


830  Jibe  DoUeet  ot  ail 


take  away  sins.  What  is  impossible  for  the  law  is  what  Christ 
has  done.  He  takes  away  not  only  guilt  but  sins,  and  that  in 
such  power  of  the  endless  life  that  those  that  draw  nigh  are 
made  perfect,  that  there  is  no  more  conscience  of  sins,  that  there 
be  no  more  remembrance  of  sins. 

To  how  many  Christians  the  cross  and  the  death  of  Christ 
are  nothing  so  much  as  a  remembrance  of  sins.  Let  us  believe 
that  by  God's  power,  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  revealing  to  us 
the  way  into  the  Holiest,  it  may  become  the  power  of  a  life, 
with  no  more  conscience  of  sins,  and  a  walk  with  a  perfect 
conscience  before  God. 

7.  Here  we  haue  again  the  contrast  between  the  two  systems.  In  the  one  God  spake  by  the 
prophets,  giving  thoughts  and  conceptions  —  shadows  of  the  good  things  to  comer  But  now  He 
speahs  to  us  in  His  Son,  the  likeness  of  God,  who  glues  us  the  very  image,  the  actual  likeness,  in 
our  experience  of  the  heavenly  things.  It  is  the  deep  contrast  between  the  outward  and  the 
inward-  the  created  and  the  divine. 

2.  A  perfect  conscience.  No  more  conscience  of  sin.  Let  me  not  fear  and  say,  Yes,  this 
is  the  conscience  Christ  gives,  but  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  keep  it  or  enjoy  its  blessing  per- 
manently. Let  me  believe  in  Him  who  is  my  Priest,  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  who  ever 
Hues  to  pray,  and  is  able  to  save  completely,  because  every  moment  His  blood  and  love  and  power 
are  in  full  operation,— the  perfect  conscience  in  me,  because  He  is  for  me  in  heaven,  a  Priest 
perfected  for  evermore. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  ail  331 


LXXVI. 

A  BODY  DIDST  THOU  PREPARE  FOR  ME. 

X.~5.  Wherefore  when  he  cometh  into  the  world,  he  saith, 

Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  wouldest  not, 

But  a  body  didst  thou  prepare  for  me ; 
G.         In  whole  burnt  offerings   and   sacrifices   for    sin    thou    hadst   no 

pleasure : 
7.         Then  said  I,  Lo,  I  am  come 

(In  the  roll  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me) 

To  do  thy  will,  O  God. 

The  writer  ha.s  reminded  u.s  of  the  utter  insufficiency  of  the  .sacri- 
fices of  the  law  to  do  what  was  needed  to  take  sin  away,  or  to 
perfect  the  worshipper.  In  contrast  to  these  he  will  now  unfold 
to  us  the  inner  meaning,  the  real  nature  and  worth  of  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ.  In  speaking  of  the  blood  in  chap.  ix.  he  has 
taught  us  what  its  infinite  power  and  efficacy  is.  But  what  we 
need  still  to  know  is  this  :  what  gave  it  that  infinite  efficacy  ; 
what  is  its  spiritual  character,  and  what  its  essential  nature, 
that  it  has  availed  so  mightily  to  open  for  us  the  way  to  God. 
Even  when  we  believe  in  Christ's  death,  we  are  in  danger  of 
resting  content  with  what  is  not  much  better  than  its  shadow, 
the  mere  doctrinal  conception  of  what  it  has  effected,  without 
entering  so  into  its  divine  significance,  that  the  very  image, 
the  real  likeness  of  what  it  means,  enters  into  us  in  power. 

Our  writer  here  again  finds  what  he  wants  to  expound,  in 
the    Old    Testament,      He    quotes  from   Psalm  xl.,  where  the 


332  ^bc  Ibolicst  of  an 


Psalmist  uses  words  which,  though  true  of  himself,  could  only 
have  their  full  meaning  revealed  when  the  Messiah  came.  Our 
author  makes  special  use  of  two  significant  expressions,  A  body 
thou  didst  prepare  for  Me,  and,  Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will, 
0  God.  Speaking  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Testament, 
the  Psalmist  had  shown  that  he  understood  that  they  never 
were  what  God  really  willed  :  they  were  but  the  shadows  point- 
ing to  something  better,  to  a  spiritual  reality,  a  life  in  the  body 
given  up  to  the  will  of  God,  as  a  divine  prophecy  of  what  has 
now  been  revealed  in  Christ. 

A  body  didst  thou  prepare  for  Me.  Instead  of  the  sacri- 
fices, God  prepared  a  body  for  Christ,  which  He  so  offered  up 
or  sacrificed  that  we  have  now  been  sanctified  by  the  offering 
of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all.  Christ's  body  was  to 
Jlim  just  what  any  man's  is  to  him — the  dwelling  and  organ  of 
the  soul  ;  the  channel  for  intercourse  with  the  outer  world, 
susceptible  of  impressions  of  pleasure  and  of  pain,  and  there- 
fore one  of  the  first  occasions  of  temptation.  His  body  was  a 
part  of  His  human  personality  and  life.  He  was  in  danger, 
just  as  we  are,  of  using  the  body  for  His  own  service  or  pleasure, 
a  means  of  gratifying  self.  But  He  never  did  this.  He  was 
filled  with  one  thought — God  prepared  Me  this  body ;  I  have  it 
for  His  disposal,  for  His  service  and  glory;  I  hold  it  ready 
every  moment  to  be  a  sacrifice  to  Him.  The  body  comes  from 
God  ;  it  belongs  to  Him  ;  it  has  no  object  of  existence  but  to 
please  Him.  The  one  value  My  body  has  is,  that  I  can  give  it 
a  sacrifice  to  God. 

It  was  the  purpose  of  the  Old  Testament  sacrifices  to  waken 
this  disposition  in  the  worshipper.  There  was  to  be  not  only 
the  thought — as  specially  in  the  sin  offering — This  sacrifice  dies 
in  m)-  stead,  so  that  I  need  not  die.     But  the  farther  thought  — 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  au  333 


this  the  burnt  offering  specially  symbolised — The  giving  up  of 
this  lamb  and  its  life  in  sacrifice  to  God,  is  the  image  and  the 
pledge  of  my  giving  up  my  life  to  Him.  I  offer  the  sacrifice  to 
God,  in  token  of  my  offering  myself  to  Him.  Substitution  and 
Consecration  were  equally  symbolised  in  the  altar. 

This  was  the  feeling  of  David  in  writing  the  Psalm.  What 
he  could  only  partly  understand  and  fulfil  has  been  realised  in 
Christ.  And  what  Christ  accomplished  for  us,  of  that  we  become 
full  partakers  as  it  is  wrought  into  us,  in  a  life  of  fellowship 
with  Him.  The  word  comes  to  us.  Present  your  bodies  a 
living  sacrifice  unto  God.  The  real  essential  nature  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ,  what  gives  it  worth  and  efficacy,  is  this : 
the  body  that  God  prepared  for  Him,  He  offered  up  to  God. 
And  just  as  David,  before  Christ,  through  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
said  these  words  of  himself,  so  every  believer  after  Christ,  in  the 
Spirit  and  power  of  Christ,  says  them  too :  A  body  hast  thou 
prepared  for  me.  This  is  the  new  and  living  way  that  Christ 
has  opened  up.  David  walked  in  it  by  anticipation  ;  Christ  the 
Leader  and  Forerunner  walked  in  it  and  fully  opened  it  up  ;  it  is 
only  as  we,  too,  by  participation  with  Him,  walk  in  it,  that  we 
can  find  access  into  the  Holiest. 

Every  believer  who  would  be  fully  delivered  from  the  Old 
Testament  religion,  the  trust  in  something  done  outside  of  us, 
that  leaves  us  unchanged,  and  would  fully  know  what  it  means 
that  we  are  sanctified  and  perfected  by  the  one  offering  of  the 
body  of  Christ,  must  study  to  appropriate  fully  this  word  as  true 
of  Christ  and  himself  as  a  member  of  His  body — A  body  didst 
thou  prepare  for  Me.  In  paradise  it  was  through  the  body 
sin  entered ;  in  the  body  it  took  up  its  abode  and  showed  its 
power.  In  the  lust  for  forbidden  food,  in  the  sense  of  naked- 
ness and  shame,  in  the  turning  to  dust  again,  sin  proved  its 


S34  Zbc  -DoUest  of  BU 


triumph.  In  the  body  grace  will  reign  and  triumph.  The  body 
has  been  redeemed  ;  it  becomes  a  temple  of  the  Spirit  and  a 
member  of  Christ's  body  ;  it  will  be  made  like  His  glorious 
body.  A  body  didst  thou  prepare  for  Me :  through  the  body 
lies,  for  Christ  and  all  who  are  sanctified  in  Him,  the  path  to 
perfection. 

And  yet  how  many  believers  there  are  to  whom  the  body  is 
the  greatest  hindrance  in  their  Christian  life.  Simply  because 
they  have  not  learnt  from  Christ  what  the  highest  use  of  the 
body  is — to  offer  it  up  to  God.  Instead  of  presentmg  their 
members  unto  God,  of  mortifying  the  deeds  of  the  body 
through  the  Spirit,  of  keeping  under  the  body,  they  allow  it 
to  have  its  way,  and  are  brought  into  bondage.  Oh  for  an 
insight  into  the  real  nature  of  our  actual  redemption,  through  a 
body  received  from  God,  prepared  by  Him,  and  offered  up  to 
Him. 

/.  The  soul  dwells  in  the  body.  The  body  has  been  well  compared  to  the  walls  of  a  city.  In 
time  of  war,  not  only  the  city  and  its  indwellers  must  be  under  the  rule  of  the  liing,  but  specially 
the  walls.  Jesus,  for  whom  God  prepared  a  body,  who  offered  His  body,  knows  to  keep  the  body 
too. 

2.  The  mystery  of  the  incarnation  is  that  Godhead  dwelt  in  a  body.  The  mystery  of  atone- 
ment, the  one  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ.  The  mystery  of  full  redemption,  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
dwells  in  and  sanctifies  wholly  the  body  too. 

3.  "Know  ijc  not  that  your  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you  ?  Glorify  God, 
therefore,  In  your  body."  Did  you  ever  know  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  specially  given  for  the  body  : 
to  regulate  its  functions,  and  sanctify  it  wholly  ? 


Jibe  Iboltest  of  HU  335 


lIxxvii. 

LO,  I  AM  COME  TO  DO  THY  "WILL. 

X.— 8.  Saying  above,  Sacriices  and  offerings  and  whole  burnt  offerings 
and  sacrifices  for  sin  thou  wouldest  not,  neither  had  pleasure  therein  (the 
which  are  offered  according  to  the  law), 

9.  Then  hath  he  said,  Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  thy  will.  He  taketh  away  the 
first,  that  he  may  establish  the  second. 

10.  By  which  will  we  have  been  sanctified  through  the  offering  of  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all. 

On  the  word,  A  body  didst  thou  prepare  for  Me,  as  the  expres- 
sion of  God's  claim,  there  follows  now  in  the  Psalm  that  other 
on  the  surrender  to  that  claim — Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will. 
In  this,  the  doing  of  God's  will,  we  have  the  destiny  of  the 
creature,  the  blessedness  of  heaven,  the  inmost  secret  of  redemp- 
tion. In  this  consists  the  worth  of  Christ's  sacrifice,  and  this 
alone  is  the  reason  why  His  blood  prevails.  The  path  He 
opened  up  to  God,  the  path  He  walked  in  and  we  walk  in,  to 
enter  the  Holiest,  is — I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will.  It  is  through 
God's  will  alone  we  enter  in  to  God  Himself  The  central 
blessing,  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  gives  us,  when 
He  gives  us  Himself,  is  a  heart  in  which  the  will  of  God  lives. 

We  have  more  than  once  spoken  of  the  two  aspects  of  Christ's 
death — substitution  with  the  atonement  it  wrought,  and  fellow- 
ship with  the  conformity  it  brings.  The  two  are  inseparably  con- 
nected.    As  long  as  we  look  to  the  substitution  simply  as  an 


336  zbe  IboUcst  of  Bll 


act  accomplishctl  outside  of  us,  without  seeking  to  know  its 
inner  nature  and  meaning,  the  fellowship  and  conformity  of 
Christ's  death  will  be  an  impossibility.  But  as  we  enter  into  the 
real  meaning  of  the  death  for  us  and  in  our  stead,  to  that  which 
constituted  its  divine  life  and  power,  we  shall  find  that  death 
and  the  life  out  of  death  becomes  ours  in  truth,  laying  hold  of 
us,  and  bringing  us  into  the  true  life-fellowship  with  our  blessed 
Leader  and  Forerunner  ;  we  shall  see  and  experience  that  what 
was  to  Him  the  way  into  the  Holiest  will  be  to  us  the  only  but 
the  certain,  the  living  way  thither. 

Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will,  0  God.  "  He  humbled  Him- 
self, and  became  obedient — tJierefore  God  hath  highly  exalted 
Him."  Because  God  is  the  all-perfect  fountain  of  life  and 
goodness  and  blessing,  there  can  be  no  life  or  goodness  or 
blessing  but  in  His  will.  The  whole  evil  and  ruin  of  sin  is  that 
man  turned  from  God's  will  to  do  his  own.  The  redemption  of 
Christ  had  no  reason,  no  object,  and  no  possibility  of  success 
except  in  restoring  man  to  do  God's  will.  It  was  for  this  Jesus 
died.  He  gave  up  His  own  will  ;  He  gave  His  life,  rather  than 
do  His  own  will.  It  was  this  that  gave  value  to  His  bearing 
our  sins,  with  their  curse  and  consequences,  to  His  tasting  death 
for  every  man.  It  was  this  that  gave  such  infinite  worth  to  His 
blood.  It  was  this  that  made  Him  a  real  propitiation  for  the 
sins  of  the  world.  And  it  is  this  we  are  made  partakers  of — first, 
as  an  obedience  for  the  sake  of  which  we  are  made  righteous  ; 
but,  further  also,  in  the  fellowship  of  the  very  spirit  of  the  death 
and  the  life  in  which  He  entered  the  presence  of  God.  I  come 
to  do  Thy  will,  is  the  way  into  the  Holiest,  for  Him  and  for  us. 

By  which  will  we  have  been  sanctified.  By  which  will, 
as  willed  by  God,  as  done  and  fulfilled  by  Christ  in  His  one 
offering,  as  accepted  by  us  in  faith.    When  wc  accept  Christ,  the 


XLbc  ibollest  of  Bll  337 


will  of  God  wrought  out  in  Christ  on  our  behalf,  is  accepted  by 
us  too ;  it  becomes  the  power  that  rules  in  our  life  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  In  which  will,  not  as  a  dead  past  transaction,  or 
as  the  mere  performance  of  a  certain  work  to  be  done,  but  as  a 
living  eternal  reality  restoring  man  into  God's  will  in  living 
power — this  it  is  in  which  we  have  the  new  and  living  way  to 
God. 

In  which  will  we  have  been  sanctified.  Sanctification  in  this 
Epistle  is  a  word  of  larger  meaning  than  what  is  meant  by  that 
title  in  ordinary  Church  doctrine.  It  includes  all  that  is  implied 
in  bringing  us  into  living  fellowship  with  God.  He  is  the  Holy 
One.  His  life  is  His  holiness.  The  inner  sanctuary  to  which 
we  enter  in,  is  the  Holiness  of  Holinesses.  In  chap.  ii.  we  read  : 
Both  He  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified  are  all 
of  one.  Our  sanctification  is  rooted  in  our  oneness  with  Jesus. 
In  the  which  will  we  are  sanctified,  delivered  from  the  power 
of  sin  and  this  evil  world,  brought  into  fellowship  with  the  Holy 
One,  and  fitted  for  entering  the  Holiest  of  All. 

In  the  which  will  we  have  been  sanctified  through  the  offer- 
ing of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  offering  has  such  power, 
because  it  was  the  doing  of  the  will  of  God,  the  entering  into 
the  will  of  God,  and  through  it  into  the  holiness  of  God,  into 
the  very  Holiest  of  All.  And  now,  as  no  one  but  Christ  had 
power  of  Himself  to  say,  Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will,  so  no 
one  can  speak  thus,  or  live  thus,  but  because  the  divine  nature 
of  Christ  is  truly  born  and  formed  within  him,  and  is  become 
the  life  of  his  life  and  the  spirit  of  his  Spirit.  It  is  thus  that  His 
priesthood  manifests  His  power  to  bring  us  nigh  to  God. 

Fellow-Christian !  hast  thou  learnt  to  believe  and  to  regard 
thyself  as  sanctified  in  the  will  of  God  as  done  by  Jesus,  admitted 
to  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  One?     Is  not  this  possibly  the 


338  XLbc  Iboliest  of  ail 


reason  that  thou  hast  not  yet  entered  the  rest  of  God  within  the 
veil,  because  thou  hast  never,  in  accepting  Christ,  accepted  that 
which  really  constitutes  Him  the  Christ?  He  is  the  Christ  who 
came  ^o  do  the  will  of  God — this  constitutes  Him  a  Saviour.  Oh, 
come  and  believe  that  this  is  what  He  did  for  thee  and  on  thy 
behalf,  that  thou  mightest  be  able  to  do  it  too.  The  new  and 
living  way  into  the  Holiest,  which  Jesus  as  Leader  and  Fore- 
runner hath  opened  up,  is  the  way  of  a  body  prepared  for  me  by 
God,  a  body  offered  to  Him,  and  a  life  given  to  do  His  will. 
As  I  say  with  Jesus,  I  am  come  to  do  Thy  will,  I  have  no  other 
object  in  life,  for  this  alone  I  live,  I  shall  with  Him  abide  in 
God's  presence. 

7.  The  only  way  to  God  is  through  the  will  of  God.  A  truth  so  simptexind  self-evident .' 
and  yet  so  deep  and  spiritual  that  but  few  fully  apprehend  it.  Yes,  this  is  the  way,  the  only 
Way,  the  new  and  living  way  into  the  Holiest  which  Jesus  opened  up.  Let  us  follow  Him,  our 
Leader  and  Forerunner,  walking  in  His  footsteps,  in  the  will  of  God. 

2.  Be  not  afraid  to  say— Yes,  0  my  God,  here  am  I,  absolutely  given  up  in  everything  to 
do  the  will  of  God ;  by  Thy  grace  and  Holy  Spirit,  to  make  every  part  of  my  being  a  doing 
of  the  will  of  God!    So  help  me,   God! 

3,  For  the  penitent  convert  it  is  enough  to  know  the  beginning  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
His  obedience  has  atoned  and  makes  me  righteous.  The  believer  who  seeks  to  grow  and 
become  conformed  to  the  image  of  the  Son,  seeks  and  finds  more.  The  obedience  that  gave  the 
sacrifice  its  power  in  heaven,  exercises  that  power  in  his  heart.  The  adorable  Substitute  be- 
comes the  beloved  Leader  and  Brother,  the  High  Priest  in  the  power  of  the  heavenly  life,  bringing 
us  near  to  God  by  leading  us  and  keeping  us  in  His  will. 


Cbe  IboUest  ot  2111 


LXXVIII. 

ONCE   AND   FOR  EVER. 

X.— 11.  And  every  priest  indeed   standeth   day  by  day  ministering  and 
offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices,  the  which  can  never  take  away  sins : 

12.  But  he,  when  he  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever,  sat  down 
on  the  right  hand  of  God ; 

13.  From  henceforth  expecting  till  his  enemies  be  made  the  footstool  of 
his  feet. 

14.  For  by  one  offering  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified. 

In  the  last  venscs  of  chap,  vii.,  where  the  eternal  priesthood  of 
Jesus  had  been  set  forth,  He  was  spoken  of  as  one  who  needeth 
not  daily  to  offer,  for  this  He  did  once  for  all,  when  He  offered 
up  Himself — a  Son,  perfected  for  evermore.  And  so  in  chap, 
ix.,  with  its  teaching  of  the  efficacy  of  His  blood,  we  had  the 
thought  repeated,  Christ  entered  in  once  for  all.  Not  that  He 
should  offer  Himself  often,  else  must  He  have  often  suffered  ; 
now  once  hath  He  been  manifested  ;  Christ  once  offered 
shall  appear  a  second  time.  The  contrast  is  put  as  strongly 
as  possible  between  the  sacrifices  ever  repeated,  and  the 
offering  of  Christ  once  for  all.  So,  too,  in  the  beginning  of 
our  chapter  the  impotence  of  the  sacrifices  year  by  year 
continually  is  proved  from  the  fact,  that  the  conscience  once 
cleansed  would  need  no  new  sacrifice ;  as  a  fact,  they  only 
renewed  the  remembrance  of  sins.  And  now,  in  the  concluding 
verses  of  the  argument,  the  thought  is  summed  up  and  pressed 
home  anew.     The  priest  standeth  day  by  day  offering  often- 


S40  trbc  Iboliest  of  HIl 


times ;  Christ  offered  one  sacrifice  for  ever.  By  one  offering  He 
hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  The  once  of 
Christ's  work  is  the  secret  of  its  being  for  ever :  the  more  clear 
the  acceptance  of  that  divine  once  for  all,  the  more  sure  the 
experience  of  that  divine  for  ever,  the  continually  abiding  working 
of  the  power  of  the  endless  life. 

Once  and  for  ever :  see  how  the  two  go  together  in  the  work 
of  Christ  in  its  two  principal  manifestations.  In  His  death,  His 
sacrifice,  His  blood-shedding,  it  is  once  for  all.  The  propitiation 
for  sin,  the  bearing  and  the  putting  away  of  it,  was  so  complete 
that  of  His  suffering  again,  or  offering  Himself  again,  there 
never  can  be  any  thought.  God  now  remembers  the  sin  no 
more  for  ever.  He  has  offered  one  sacrifice  for  ever ;  He  hath 
perfected  us  for  ever.  No  less  is  it  so  in  His  resurrection  and 
ascension  into  heaven.  He  entered  once  for  all  through  His 
blood  into  the  Holiest.  When  He  had  offered  one  sacrifice 
for  ever,  1  Ic  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  The  once  for 
all  of  His  death  is  the  secret  of  the  for  ever  of  the  power  of 
His  sacrifice.  The  once  for  all  of  His  entering  through  the 
blood,  the  power  of  the  for  ever  of  His  sitting  on  the  throne. 

What  is  true  of  Christ  is  true  of  His  people.  The  law  of 
His  life  is  the  law  of  theirs.  Of  the  once  for  all  and  the  for 
ever  of  1  lis  work  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  their  lives  and  spiritual 
experience  will  feel  the  power  and  bear  the  mark.  See  it  in 
conversion.  How  man)-  have  struggled  for  years  in  doubt  and 
fear,  simply  because  they  ditl  not  apprehend  the  once  for  all  of 
C'hrist's  atonement.  The\-  could  not  understand  how  it  was 
possible  for  a  sinner  once  for  all  to  believe  and  be  saved.  No 
sooner  was  it  made  plain  to  them  that  the  punishment  was 
borne,  that  the  debt  was  paid,  once  for  all,  all  became  clear 
and  they  counted  it  their  duty  and  jo>'  at  once  to  accept  what 


Zhc  lF)olleBt  of  ail  341 


was  so  finished  and  so  sure.  And  they  could  see,  too,  how  the 
once  was  for  ever — the  power  of  the  endless  life  bearing  them 
on  into  the  for  ever  of  God's  presence. 

And  no  otherwise  is  it  with  the  believers  entering  within 
the  veil,  into  a  life  of  unclouded  and  unbroken  fellowship.  We 
saw  in  Christ's  work  the  two  manifestations  of  the  once  and 
the  for  ever.  It  was  not  only  in  the  death  and  blood-shedding, 
but  in  the  entering  into  the  Holiest  and  the  blood-sprinkling  in 
heaven.  To  many  it  appears  at  variance  with  all  the  laws  of 
growth  and  development,  that  there  should  be  a  once  for  all 
of  an  entrance  within  the  veil.  And  yet  there  are  witnesses 
not  a  few  who  can  testify  that  when  the  once  of  Christ's 
entering  in  was  revealed  in  its  infinite  power  as  theirs,  all  doubt 
vanished,  and  not  only  boldness  but  power  of  access  was  given, 
which  brought  them  into  an  experience  of  the  eternal  and 
unchanging  power  of  the  heavenly  priesthood,  and  of  the 
kingdom  within  as  set  up  and  kept  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
they  never  had  thought  of.  And  that  once  was  followed  by 
the  for  ever  of  the  continually  abiding,  which  the  priesthood  of 
Jesus  was  meant  to  secure. 

But  He,  when  He  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever, 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God ;  from  henceforth  expecting- 
till  His  enemies  be  made  the  footstool  of  His  feet.  We  have  said 
before,  the  Epistle  would  fill  us  with  the  thought  of  a  heavenly 
Christ ;  nothing  less  than  the  knowledge  of  that  can  enable  us 
to  live  as  the  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling.  Let  us  fix  our 
eyes  here  again  upon  Christ  as  King.  The  once  of  sacrifice  and 
death  issues  in  the  for  ever  of  the  nearness  and  the  power  of 
God.  The  once  of  our  entrance  into  the  death  of  Christ  and 
His  life,  brings  us  back  to  the  fellowship  with  Christ  in  the  love 
and   power  of  the  Father  in  heaven.     His  for  ever  is  one  of 


342  Zbc  -fcolicst  of  ail 


victory,  and  of  the  blessed  expectation  of  its  full  manifestation  in 
the  subjugation  of  every  enemy.  Our  life  within  the  veil  may  be 
one  too  of  possession  and  expectation  combined  ;  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  overcoming  life,  with  the  going  on  from  strength  to 
strength  in  the  victory  over  every  foe.  Between  these  two 
pillars — on  the  one  hand,  this  ONCE  FOR  ALL,  on  the  other  this 
FOR  EVER,  the  way  into  the  Holiest  passes  and  brings  us  to  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb. 

1.  The  time  when  the  lung  and  patient  preparation  was  perfected  in  this  once  for  all  was  in 
God's  hands.  Christ  waited  on  the  Father.  Even  so,  our  full  participation  in  it  is  not  something 
we  can  count  a  thing  to  be  grasped ;  in  the  faith  of  it  we  bide  God's  time,  seeking  each  day  to 
live  in  a  redemption  that  is  perfected  and  eternal.  Through  faith  and  longsuffering  we  inherit 
the  promises. 

2.  Once  for  all.  That  covers  my  past  completely— my  past  not  only  of  guTIt,  but  of  sin  with 
all  its  consequences.  For  ever.  That  covers  my  future,  with  all  Us  possible  needs.  Between 
these  two,  in  the  present  moment,  the  Now  of  daily  life,  I  am  saved  with  an  everlasting 
salvation ;  the  To-day  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-dzy—mahes  the 
Once  and  the  for  ever  a  daily  present  reality. 


^be  Iboliest  ot  Bll  343 


LXXIX. 

THE  SANCTIFIED  PERFECTED  FOR  EVER. 

X.— 14.  For  by  one  offering  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are 
sanctified. 

This  verse  is  in  reality  the  conclusion  of  the  doctrinal  part  of 
the  Epistle.  The  four  following  verses  are  simply  the  citation 
of  the  words  of  the  new  covenant  to  confirm  its  teaching  with 
the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  The  writer  having,  in  the  context, 
expounded  the  nature  of  Christ's  sacrifice,  as  showing  what  the 
way  into  the  Holiest  is,  sums  up  his  proof  of  its  worth  and 
efficacy  in  the  words :  By  one  offering  He  hath  perfected  for 
ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  We  find  here  five  of  the  most 
important  words  that  occur  in  the  Epistle. 

Sanctified.  That  looks  back  to  the  great  purpose  of  Christ's 
coming,  as  we  had  it  in  chap.  ii.  Sanctified  is  cleansed  from 
sin,  taken  out  of  the  sphere  and  power  of  the  world  and  sin, 
and  brought  to  live  in  the  sphere  and  power  of  God's  holiness 
in  the  Holiest  of  All.  It  looks  back,  too,  to  ver.  lO :  In  which 
will  we  are  sanctified  by  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ. 

He  hath  perfected  them  that  are  sanctified.  It  not  only 
says  that  He  has  finished  and  completed  for  them  all  they 
need.  The  word  points  back  to  what  was  said  of  His  own 
being  made  perfect.  All  He  became  was  for  us.  In  His  one 
sacrifice  He  was  not  only  perfected  Himself,  but  He  perfected 


ni4  ^bc  1bol(C3t  of  ail 


us  ;  He  took  us  into  the  fellowship  of  His  own  perfectness, 
implanted  His  own  perfect  life  in  us,  and  gave  His  per- 
fected human  nature  to  us  what  we  were  to  put  on,  and  to 
live  in. 

For  ever.  He  hath  perfected  us  once  for  all  and  for  ever. 
His  perfection  is  ours ;  our  whole  life  is  prepared  for  us,  to  be 
received  out  of  His  hand. 

By  sacrifice.  The  death,  the  blood,  the  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
is  the  power  by  which  we  have  been  alike  sanctified  and 
perfected.  It  is  the  way  which  He  opened  up,  in  which  He 
leads  us  with  Himself  into  what  He  is  and  does  as  the  One 
who  is  perfected  for  evermore,  and  the  Holiest  of  All. 

By  one  sacrifice.  One  because  there  is  none  other  needed, 
either  by  others  or  Himself;  one  divine,  and  therefore  sufficient 
and  for  ever. 

The  chief  thought  of  the  passage  is  :  He  hath  for  ever 
perfected  them  that  are  being  sanctified.  The  words  in  ver.  lo, 
In  which  will  we  have  been  sanctified,  speak  of  our  sancti- 
fication  as  an  accomplished  fact :  we  are  saints,  holy  in  Christ, 
in  virtue  of  our  real  union  with  Him,  and  His  holy  life  planted 
in  the  centre  of  our  being.  Here  we  are  spoken  of  as  being 
sanctified.  There  is  a  process  by  which  our  new  life  in  Christ 
has  to  master  and  to  perfect  holiness  through  our  whole  outer 
being.  But  the  progressive  sanctification  has  its  rest  and  its 
assurance  in  the  ONCE  and  FOR  EVER  of  Christ's  work.  He 
hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  being  sanctified. 

In  chaps,  ix.  9  and  x.  I  we  read  that  the  sacrifices  could 
never,  as  touching  the  conscience,  make  the  worshipper 
perfect,  never  make  perfect  them  that  draw  nigh,  so  that 
they  have  no  more  conscience  of  sins.  Our  conscience  is 
that  which  defines  what  our  consciousness  of  ourseKes  before 


Zbe  Ibolieet  of  mi  345 


God  should  be :  Christ  makes  the  worshipper  perfect,  as 
touching  the  conscience,  so  that  there  is  no  more  conscience 
of  sins.  He  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified. 
At  the  close  of  the  chapter  on  Christ's  priesthood  we  read  of 
Himself  (vii.  28) :  He  is  a  High  Priest,  a  Son,  perfected  for 
evermore.  Here  at  the  close  of  the  unfolding  of  His  work,  it 
is  said  of  His  saints :  He  hath  perfected  them  for  ever.  The 
perfection  in  both  cases  is  one  and  the  same.  As  the  Son  of 
Man,  as  the  Second  Adam,  who  lives  in  all  who  are  His, 
He  perfected  Himself  for  them,  and  them  in  Himself.  His 
perfection  and  theirs  are  one. 

And  wherein  His  perfection  consists  we  know  too.  (See  in 
ii.  10  and  v.  9.)  A  Leader  in  the  way  of  glory,  God  made 
Him  perfect  through  suffering;  perfected  in  Him  that humilit}- 
and  meekness  and  patience  which  mark  Him  as  the  Lamb, 
which  are  what  God  asks  of  man,  and  are  man's  only  fitness 
for  dwelling  with  God.  Having  offered  up  prayer,  and 
having  been  heard  for  His  godly  fear,  though  He  was  a 
Son,  yet  He  learned  obedience  by  what  He  suffered,  and 
was  made  perfect.  His  godly  fear.  His  waiting  on  God 
in  the  absolute  surrender  of  His  will,  His  submitting  to  learn 
obedience,  His  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  even  unto  death, — it  was 
by  this  that  as  man  He  was  perfected,  it  was  in  this  He 
perfected  human  nature,  and  perfected  His  people  too.  Li  His 
death  He  accomplished  a  threefold  work.  He  perfected  Him- 
self, His  own  human  nature  and  character.  He  perfected 
our  redemption,  perfectly  putting  away  sin  from  the  place 
it  had  in  heaven  (ix.  23),  and  in  our  hearts.  He  perfected 
us,  taking  us  up  into  His  own  perfection,  and  making  us 
partakers  of  that  perfect  human  nature,  which  in  suffer- 
ing  and  obedience,  in    the  body  prepared    for    Him,  and    the 


346  Zbe  1)olle6t  of  Sll 


will  of  God  done  in  it,  He  had  wrought  out  for  us.  Christ 
Himself  is  our  perfection  ;  in  Him  it  is  complete  ;  abiding  in 
Him  continually  is  perfection. 

Let  us  press  on  to  perfection,  was  the  call  with  which  we 
were  led  into  the  higher-life  teaching  of  the  Epistle.  Here  is 
our  goal.  Christ,  by  one  offering,  hath  perfected  us  for 
ever.  We  know  Him  as  the  Priest  for  ever,  the  Minister  of 
the  new  sanctuary,  and  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant, 
who  by  His  blood  entered  into  the  Holiest ;  there  He  lives 
for  e\er,  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  to  impart  to  us  and 
maintain  within  us  His  perfect  life.  It  is  the  walk  in  this  path 
of  perfection,  which  as  our  Leader  He  opened  up  in  doing 
the  will  of  God,  which  is  the  new  and  living  way  into  the 
Holiest, 

7.  The  work  of  Christ  is  a  perfect  and  perfected  work.  Everything  is  finished  and  complete 
for  ever.  And  we  have  Just  by  faith  to  behold  and  enter  in,  and  seek  and  rejoice,  and  receive 
out  of  His  fulness  grace  for  grace.  Let  every  difficulty  you  feel  in  understanding  or  claiming 
the  different  blessings  set  before  you,  or  in  connecting  them,  find  its  solution  in  the  one 
thought  -Christ  has  perfected  us  for  ever ;  trust  Him,  cling  to  Him,  He  will  do  all. 

2.  One  sacrifice  for  ever.  We  perfected  for  ever.  And  HE  who  did  it  all,  HE  for  ever 
seated  on  the  throne.  Our  blessed  Priest-King,  He  lives  to  make  it  all  ours.  In  the  power 
of  an  endless  life,  in  which  He  offered  Himself  unto  God,  in  which  He  entered  the  Holiest, 
He  now  lives  to  give  and  be  in  our  hearts  all  He  hath  accomplished.  What  more  can  we 
need?     Wherefore,  holy  brethren  !  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  consider  Jesus. 


Ube  1bolle6t  of  mi  347 


LXXX. 

THE   WITNESS   OP   THE   HOLY   SPIRIT. 

X.- 15.  And  the  Holy  Ghost  also  beareth  witness  to  us :  for  after  he  hath 
said, 

16.  This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  them 
After  those  days,  saith  the  Lord ; 

I  will  put  my  laws  on  their  heart. 
And  upon  their  mind  also  will  I  write  them ; 
then  saith  he, 

17.  And  their  sins  and  their  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more. 

18.  Now  where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is  no  more  offering  for  sin. 

The  writer  has  concluded  hi.s  argument.  He  has  made  clear 
that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  as  the  offering  up  of  His  body  to 
the  will  of  God,  had  opened  for  us  a  new  way  into  the  Holiest. 
Through  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  we  have 
been  sanctified.  When  He  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  ever, 
He  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  By  one  offering  He 
hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  His  sacrifice 
is  over,  and  has  everlasting  power ;  in  virtue  of  it  He  sits  on  the 
throne,  expecting  His  final  triumph  ;  those  He  has  sanctified 
are  perfected  for  ever.  The  sacrifice  is  of  infinite  worth  ;  it  has 
opened  the  entrance  to  a  state  of  perfect  and  everlasting  holiness 
and  glory ;  nothing  is  now  needed  but  to  rejoice  and  wait  and 
see  the  King  on  the  throne  applying  and  revealing  the  power  of 
His  finished  work. 

The  writer  appeals  to  the  words  of  the  institution  of  the  new 


348  XLbe  Dolicst  of  ail 


covenant  (viii.  6-13).  in  support  of  what  he  has  said.  He  does 
so  with  the  words,  And  the  Holy  Ghost  also  beareth  witness 
to  us.  The  words  of  Jeremiah  are  to  him  the  words  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  H^e  beheves  in  a  direct  inspiration.  It  was  the 
God  who  knows  the  end  from  the  beginning,  who  had  planned 
all  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  in  the  preparation  of  redemp- 
tion, who  had  revealed  to  Jeremiah  the  new  covenant  that  would 
be  made  centuries  later.  It  was  the  same  Holy  Spirit  who  had 
inspired  the  first  record  of  Melchizedek,  and  the  Psalm  with  the 
oath  of  God,  who  had  ordered  the  tabernacle  and  the  \eil  to 
signify  that  the  way  into  the  Holiest  was  not  yet  open,  and  had 
watched  over  the  first  covenant,  and  its  dedication  not  w  ithout 
blood,  through  whom  the  promise  of  the  new  covenant  was 
spoken  and  recorded.  Our  writer  appeals  to  Him  and  His 
witness. 

He  does  so  as  one  who  him.self  has  the  teaching  of  that 
Spirit.  Anyone  might  read  the  words  of  the  covenant,  and  of 
the  death  of  Jesus  ;  no  one  could  connect  and  expound  them 
in  their  divine  harmony  and  their  everlasting  significance  but 
one  taught  by  the  same  Sjjirit.  These  men  prcacJied  tlie 
gospel  loitJi  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven  ;  the 
Spirit,  from  the  King  sat  down  upon  the  throne,  re\'ealed  in 
and  to  them  the  will  of  God,  and  the  eternal  power  of  the  one 
sacrifice,  to  open  the  way  into  the  Holiest. 

And  what  is  now  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  new 
covenant  ?  The  witness  to  the  two  blessings  of  the  covenant 
in  their  divine  inseparable  unit}'.  I  will  put  My  laws  in 
their  heart,  and  their  sins  will  I  remember  no  more.  The 
complete  remission  of  sins,  the  removal  of  sin  out  of  God's 
sight  and  remembrance  for  ever,  was  promised.  Now,  our 
w  ritcr  argues,  where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is  no  more 


ITbe  Ibollest  of  ail  349 


offering  for  sin.  The  one  offering  hath  perfected  for  ever  them 
that  are  sanctified.  The  death  of  Christ  has  opened  up  and 
introduced  us  into  a  relationship  to  God,  a  state  of  life  before 
Him,  in  which  sin  has  been  finally  put  away,  and  God  receives 
us  into  His  fellowship  as  those  who  have  been  sanctified  in 
Christ.  He  receives  us  into  the  Holiest  of  All  through  the 
blood.  The  blood  that  sprinkles  the  mercy-seat  also  sprinkles 
and  cleanses  our  conscience,  bringing  the  full  remission,  the 
full  deliverance  from  sin  and  its  power,  into  our  inmost  being ; 
and,  fitting  our  heart  to  receive  that  Spirit  of  heaven  which 
witnesses  with  the  blood,  as  a  Spirit  of  life,  puts  the  law 
within  us,  as  the  law  of  our  life. 

And  so  we  enter  into  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  and  the 
rest  of  God  in  it  ;  enter  the  perfection  with  which  He  Himself 
was  perfected  for  evermore,  and  hath  perfected  us  for  ever  ;  into 
that  Holiest  of  All,  into  which  God  fulfils  the  promise,  I  will  be 
to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  Me  a  people.  And  the 
offering  of  the  body  of  Christ  once  for  all,  the  one  sacrifice  for 
ever,  becomes,  in  ever-growing  blessedness,  the  one  thought,  the 
one  trust,  the  one  joy,  the  one  life  of  the  believer.  His  salvation 
and  redemption  are  finished  and  eternal  realities.  His  perfection 
and  sanctification  too.  Our  one  need  is  to  believe  and  abide  in 
and  receive  what  our  Priest-King  on  the  throne  imparts  through 
His  Spirit:  a  full  entrance  into  the  no  more  offering  for  sin, 
with  all  that  flows  from  it,  in  the  person  and  throne  and  work 
of  our  Priest  for  ever :  this  is  the  entrance  into  the  Ploliest. 

And  the  Holy  Ghost  also  beareth  witness  to  us.  It  is  easy 
to  understand  the  truth  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  as  one  of  the 
elementary  foundation  truths,  of  which  we  read  in  chap.  vi. 
(ver.  i).  But  if  we  seek  to  press  on  to  perfection,  and  to  know 
what  the  fulness  of  salvation  is  into  which  it  leads,  we  may  count 


350  Cbe  1bolie0t  of  ail 


upon  the  Holy  Spirit  to  reveal  it,  to  witness  to  it,  in  our  inner 
life.  He  reveals  it  not  to  the  mind,  or  as  the  reward  of  earthly 
study,  but  to  the  poor  in  spirit  and  them  that  are  of  a  lowly  heart. 
It  is  in  the  heart  God  sends  forth  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  ;  the 
heart  that  longs  for  and  chooses  and  loves  and  waits  for  this  life 
of  perfect  fellowship  with  God  more  than  its  chief  joy,  shall  have 
it  witnessed  by  God's  Spirit  that  the  no  more  oflFering  for  sin 
is  indeed  the  opening  up  of  the  Holiest  of  All.  The  Holy 
Ghost  who  comes  from  heaven,  bears  witness  of  what  is  in 
heaven.  We  can  know  nothing  really  of  what  takes  place  in 
heaven  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  our  heart.  Dwelling  in  us  He 
gives  in  our  inmost  life  the  full  witness  to  all  the  efficacy  of 
Christ's  atonement  and  His  enthronement  in  the  presence  of 
God. 

7.  The  one  central  truth  to  which  the  Holy  Spirit  testifies  is  this  :  that  the  old  way  of  living 
and  serving  God  is  now  completely  and  for  ever  come  to  an  end.  Death  and  the  devil  are  brought  to 
nought ;  the  veil  is  rent ;  sin  is  put  away ;  the  old  covenant  is  disannulled,  vanished  away,  tahen 
away.  A  new  system,  a  new  way,  a  new  and  eternal  life  has  been  opened  up  in  the  power  of  Christ 
Jesus.  Oh  to  have  our  eyes  and  hearts  opened  to  see  that  is  not  merely  a  thought,  a  truth  for  the 
mind,  but  a  spiritual  state  of  existence  which  the  Holy  Ghost  can  bring  us  into. 

2.  The  Holy  Ghost  beareth  witness.  For  this  He  came  down  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  out  of 
the  heavenly  sanctuary  and  from  our  exalted  Priest-King,  to  bring  down  the  heavenly  life,  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  the  disciples,  and  mahe  it  real  to  them,  as  a  thing  found  and  felt  in  their  hearts. 
Each  one  of  us  needs  and  may  claim  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  same  Pentecostal  power,  and  the  new, 
the  eternal,  the  heavenly  life  will  fill  us  too. 


SECOND  HALF-PRACTICAL.  -Ch.  x.  19-xiii.  24. 

The  Call  to  a  Life  in  Harmony 

with  the  Glory  of  God's  Revelation  of  Himself 

in  the  Son. 


NINTH  SECTION.-x.  19-25. 
Of  Life   in  the   Holiest  of  All. 


It  may  heljD  us  the  better  to  master  the  rich  contents  of  this 
central  passage,  containing  a  summary  of  the  whole  Epistle, 
if  we  here  give  the  chief  thoughts  it  contains. 

I.  The  four  great  lUessings  of  the  new  worship  : 

1.  The  Holiest  opened  up. 

2.  Boldness  in  the  Blood. 

3.  A  New  and  Living  Way. 

4.  The  (ireat  High  Priest. 

1 1.  The  four  chief  Marks  of  the  true  worshipper  : 

1.  A  True  Heart. 

2.  Fulness  of  Faith. 

3.  A  Heart  sprinkled  from  an  Evil  Conscience. 

4.  The  Body  washed  with  Clean  Water. 

III.  The  four  great  Duties  to  which  the  opened  .Sanctuary  calls  : 

1.  Let  us  draw  nigh  (in  the  fulness  oi faith). 

2.  Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  our  Jiopc. 

3.  Let  us  consider  one  another  to  provoke  unto  lo7'c. 

4.  Let  us  not  forsake  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together. 


^bc  1bolie6t  of  Bll  353 


LXXXI. 

THE  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  HOLIEST. 

X.— 19.  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holy  Place ;  ^ 
22.  Let  us  draw  near. 

Enter  into  the  Holiest.  With  these  words  the  second  half  of 
the  Epistle  begins.  Hitherto  the  teaching  has  been  mainly 
doctrinal.  The  glory  of  Christ's  person  and  priesthood,  of  the 
heavenly  sanctuary  which  He,  through  His  own  blood,  has 
opened  and  cleansed  and  taken  possession  of  for  us,  of  the  way 
of  obedience  and  self-sacrifice  which  led  Him  even  to  the  throne, 
has  been  unfolded.  Now  comes  the  practical  part,  and  our 
duty  to  appropriate  the  great  salvation  that  has  been  provided 
is  summed  up  in  the  one  thought :  Having  boldness  to  enter  into 
the  Holiest;  let  us  draw  nigh.  Access  to  God's  presence 
and  fellowship,  the  right  and  the  power  to  make  that  our  abid- 
ing dwelling-place,  to  live  our  life  there,  has  been  provided  in 
Christ :  let  us  draw  nigh,  here  let  us  abide. 

Enter  into  the  Holiest.  It  is  a  call  to  the  Hebre\\'s  to  come 
out  of  that  life  of  unbelief  and  sloth,  that  leads  to  a  departing 
from  the  living  God,  and  to  enter  into  the  promised  land,  the 
rest  of  God,  a  life  in  His  fellowship  and  favour.  It  is  a  call  to 
all  lukewarm,  half-hearted  Christians,  no  longer  to  remain  in 
the  outer  court  of  the  tabernacle,  content  with  the  hope  that 

^  Holiest. 


354  ^be  tjolieet  of  ail 


their  sins  are  pardoned.  Nor  even  to  be  satisfied  with  having 
entered  the  Holy  Place,  and  there  doing  the  service  of  the  taber- 
nacle, while  the  veil  still  hinders  the  full  fellowship  with  the 
living  God  and  His  love.  It  calls  to  enter  in  through  the  rent 
veil,  into  the  place  into  which  the  blood  has  been  brought,  and 
where  the  High  Priest  lives,  there  to  live  and  walk  and 
work  always  in  the  presence  of  the  Father.  It  is  a  call  to  all 
doubting,  thirsting  believers,  who  long  for  a  better  life  than  they 
have  yet  known,  to  cast  aside  their  doubts,  and  to  believe  that 
this  is  what  Christ  has  indeed  done  and  brought  within  the 
reach  of  each  one  of  us :  He  has  opened  the  way  into  the  Holiest ! 
This  is  the  salvation  which  He  has  accomplished,  and  which  He 
lives  to  apply  in  each  of  us,  so  that  we  shall  indeed  dwell  in  the 
full  light  of  God's  countenance. 

Enter  into  the  Holiest,  •  This  is,  in  one  short  word,  the  fruit 
of  Christ's  work,  the  chief  lesson  of  the  Epistle,  the  one  great 
need  of  our  Christian  life,  the  complete  and  perfect  salvation 
God  in  Christ  gives  us  to  enjoy. 

Enter  into  the  Holiest.  What  Holiest?  To  the  reader 
who  has  gone  with  us  through  the  Epistle  thus  far,  it  is  hardly 
needful  to  say,  No  other  than  that  very  same  into  which 
Christ,  when  He  had  rent  the  veil  in  His  death,  entered  through 
His  own  blood,  to  appear  before  the  face  of  God  for  us.  That 
Holiest  of  All  is  the  heavenly  place.  But  not  heaven,  as  it  is 
ordinarily  understood,  as  a  locality,  distinct  and  separate  from 
this  earth.  The  heaven  of  God  is  not  limited  in  space  in  the 
same  way  as  a  place  on  earth.  There  is  a  heaven  above  us, 
the  place  of  God's  special  manifestation.  But  there  is  also  a 
spiritual  heaven,  as  omnipresent  as  God  Himself  Where  God 
is,  is  heaven;  the  heaven  of  His  presence  includes  this  earth 
too.     The  Holiest  into  which  Christ  entered,  and  into  which  He 


Zbe  Iboliest  ot  2111  355 


opened  the  way  for  us,  is  the,  to  nature,  inaccessible  light  of 
God's  holy  presence  and  love,  full  union  and  communion  with 
Him.  Into  that  Holiest  the  soul  can  enter  by  the  faith 
that  makes  us  one  with  Christ.  The  Holy  Spirit,  who  first 
signified  that  the  way  of  the  Holiest  was  not  yet  open  ; 
through  whom  Jesus  shed  the  blood  that  opened  the  way ; 
who,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  witnessed  in  the  heart  of  the 
disciples,  that  it  was  now  indeed  open  ;  waits  to  testify  to  us 
what  it  means  to  enter  in  and  to  bring  us  in.  He  lifts  the  soul 
up  into  the  Holiest ;  He  brings  the  Holiest  down  into  the  soul. 

Enter  into  the  Holiest.  Oh,  the  glory  of  the  message. 
For  fifteen  centuries  Israel  had  a  sanctuary  with  a  Holiest  of  All 
into  which,  under  pain  of  death,  no  one  might  enter.  Its  one 
witness  was :  man  cannot  dwell  in  God's  presence,  cannot 
abide  in  His  fellowship.  And  now,  how  changed  is  all  1  As  then 
the  warning  sounded  :  Enter  not !  so  now  the  call  goes  forth : 
Enter  in  !  the  veil  is  rent ;  the  Holiest  is  open  ;  God  waits  to 
welcome  you  to  His  bosom.  Henceforth  you  are  to  live  with 
Him.  This  is  the  message  of  the  Epistle :  Child !  thy  Father 
longs  for  thee  to  enter,  to  dwell,  and  to  go  out  no  more  for 
ever. 

Oh  the  blessedness  of  a  life  in  the  Holiest !  Here  the 
Father's  face  is  seen  and  His  love  tasted.  Here  His  holiness  is 
revealed  and  the  soul  made  partaker  of  it.  Here  the  sacrifice 
of  love  and  worship  and  adoration,  the  incense  of  prayer  and 
supplication,  is  offered  in  power.  Here  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  is  known  as  an  ever-streaming,  overflowing  river,  from 
under  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  Here  the  soul,  in 
God's  presence,  grows  into  more  complete  oneness  with  Christ, 
and  more  entire  conformity  to  His  likeness.  Here,  in  union 
with  Christ,  in  His  unceasing  intercession,  we  are  emboldened 


!}56  zbc  Ibollcst  of  Bll 


to  take  our  place  as  intercessors,  who  can  have  power  with 
God  and  prevail.  Here  the  soul  mounts  up  as  on  eagle's  wings, 
the  strength  is  renewed,  and  the  blessing  and  the  power  and 
the  love  are  imparted  with  which  God's  priests  can  go  out  to 
bless  a  dying  world.  Here  each  day  we  may  experience  the 
fresh  anointing,  in  virtue  of  uliich  we  can  go  out  to  be  the 
bearers,  and  witnesses,  and  channels  of  God's  salvation  to  men, 
the  living  instruments  through  whom  our  blessed  King  works 
out  His  full  and  final  triumph. 

O  Jesus  !  our  great  High  Priest,  let  this  be  our  life! 

7.  "  One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after ;  that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  enquire  in  His  temple. " 
Here  the  prayer  is  fulfilled. 

2.  "Did  not  Jesus  say,  '  I  am  the  door  of  the  sheepfold  '  ?  What  to  us  is  the  sheepfold,  dear 
children  ?  It  is  the  heart  of  the  Father,  whereunto  Christ  is  the  gate  that  is  called  Beautiful.  0 
children,  how  sweetly  and  how  gladly  has  He  opened  that  door  into  the  Father's  heart,  into  the 
treasure-chamber  of  God  !  And  there  within  He  unfolds  to  us  the  hidden  riches,  the  nearness  and 
the  sweetness  of  companionship  with  Himself. " — TA  ULER. 

3.  We  have  read  of  a  man's  father  or  friends  purchasing  and  furnishing  a  house  for  a  birth- 
day or  a  wedding  gift.  They  bring  him  there,  and,  handing  the  keys,  say  to  him:  "  This  is  now 
your  house."  Child  of  God  !  the  Father  opens  unto  thee  the  Holiest  of  All,  and  says  :  "Let  this  now 
be  thy  home. "    What  shall  our  answer  be  ? 


trbe  Ibollest  ot  HU  357 


LXXXII. 

BOLDNESS  IN  THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS. 

X.— 19.  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holy  Place,^ 
by  the  blood  of  Jesus ; 
22.  Let  us  draw  near. 

Enter  into  the  Holiest.  This  word  brought  us  the  message  of 
the  Epistle.  Christ  has  in  very  deed  opened  the  HoHest  of  All 
for  us  to  enter  in  and  to  dwell  there.  The  Father  would  have 
His  children  with  Him  in  His  holy  home  of  love  and  fellowship, 
abiding  continually  all  the  time.  The  Epistle  seeks  to  gather 
all  in.     Having  boldness  to  enter,  let  US  draw  near! 

It  may  be  that  some,  as  in  the  study  of  the  Epistle 
the  wondrous  mystery  of  the  way  into  the  Holiest  now  opened 
was  revealed  to  them,  have  entered  in  ;  they  have  said,  in  faith : 
Lord,  my  God  ;  I  come.  Henceforth  I  would  live  in  Thy  secret 
place,  in  the  Holiest  of  All.  And  yet  they  fear.  They  are  not 
sure  whether  the  great  High  Priest  has  indeed  taken  them  in. 
They  know  not  for  certain  whether  they  will  be  faithful,  always 
abiding  within  the  veil.  They  have  not  yet  grasped  what  it 
means — having  boldness  to  enter  in. 

And  there  may  be  others,  who  have  with  longing,  wistful 
hearts,  heard  the  call  to  enter  in,  and  yet  have  not  the  courage 
to  do  so.     The  thought  that  a  sinful  worm  can  every  day  and 

1  Holiest. 


358  xrbc  -fooucst  Of  ail 


all  the  day  dwell  in  the  Holiest  of  All  is  altogether  too  high. 
The  consciousness  of  feebleness  and  failure  is  so  strong,  the 
sense  of  personal  unfaithfulness  so  keen,  the  experience  of  the 
power  of  the  world  and  circumstances,  of  the  weakness  of  the 
flesh  and  its  efforts,  so  fresh,  that  for  them  there  is  no  hope  of 
such  a  life.  Others  may  rejoice  in  it,  they  must  even  be  content 
without  it.     And  yet  the  heart  is  not  content. 

To  both  such,  those  who  have  entered  but  still  are  full  of 
fears,  and  those  who  in  fear  do  not  enter,  the  Holy  Spirit 
speaks — To-day,  if  you  shall  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts ;  Having  boldness  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  to  enter  into 
the  Holiest,  let  us  draw  nigh.  The  boldness  with  which  we  are 
to  enter  is  not,  first  of  all,  a  conscious  feeling  of  confidence ; 
it  is  the  objective  God-given  right  and  liberty  of  entrance  of 
which  the  blood  assures  us.  The  measure  of  our  boldness  is  the 
worth  God  attaches  to  the  blood  of  Jesus.  As  our  heart  reposes 
its  confidence  on  that  in  simple  faith,  the  feeling  of  confidence 
and  joy  on  our  part  will  come  too,  and  our  entrance  will  be  amid 
songs  of  praise  and  gladness. 

Boldness  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.  Everything  depends  upon 
our  apprehension  of  what  that  means.  If  the  blood  be  to  us  what 
it  is  to  God,  the  boldness  which  God  means  it  to  give,  will  fill 
our  hearts.  As  we  saw  in  chap,  ix.,  what  the  blood  has  effected 
in  rending  the  veil  and  cleansing  the  heavens,  and  giving  Jesus, 
the  Son  of  Man,  access  to  God,  will  be  the  measure  of  what  it 
will  effect  within  us,  making  our  heart  God's  sanctuary,  and 
fitting  us  for  perfect  fellowship  with  the  Holy  One.  The  more 
we  honour  the  blood  in  its  infinite  worth,  the  more  will  it  prove 
its  mighty  energy  and  efficacy,  opening  heaven  to  us  and  in  us, 
giving  us,  in  divine  power,  the  real  living  experience  of  what  the 
entrance  into  the  Holiest  is. 


Zbe  iboliest  of  mi  359 


The  blood  of  Jesus.  T/te  life  is  the  blood.  As  the  value 
of  this  life,  so  the  value  of  the  blood.  In  Christ  there  was  the 
life  of  God  ;  infinite  as  God  is  the  worth  and  the  power  of  that 
blood.  In  Christ  there  was  the  life  of  man  in  its  perfection  ;  in 
His  humility,  and  obedience  to  the  Father,  and  self-sacrifice,  that 
which  made  Him  unspeakably  well-pleasing  to  the  Father.  That 
blood  of  Jesus,  God  and  man,  poured  out  in  a  death,  that  was 
a  perfect  fulfilment  of  God's  will,  and  a  perfect  victory  over  all 
the  temptations  of  sin  and  self,  effected  an  everlasting  atonement 
for  sin,  and  put  it  for  ever  out  of  the  way,  destroying  death  and 
him  that  had  the  power  of  it.  Therefore  it  was,  that  in  the 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant  Jesus  was  raised  from  the 
dead ;  that  in  His  own  blood,  as  our  Head  and  Surety,  He 
entered  heaven  ;  and  that  that  blood  is  now  for  ever  in  heaven, 
in  the  same  place  of  honour  as  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  Jesus 
the  Mediator  (xii.  24).  It  is  this  blood,  now  in  heaven  before 
God  for  us,  that  is  our  boldness  to  enter  in,  even  into  the  very 
Holiest  of  All. 

Beloved  Christian  !  The  blood  of  Jesus  !  The  blood  of  the 
Lamb  !  Oh  think  what  it  means.  God  gave  it  for  your  redemp- 
tion. God  accepted  it  when  His  Son  entered  heaven  and 
presented  it  on  your  behalf.  God  has  it  for  ever  in  His  sight  as 
the  fruit,  the  infinitely  w^ell-pleasing  proof,  of  His  Son's  obedience 
unto  death.  God  points  you  to  it  and  asks  you  to  believe  in 
the  divine  satisfaction  it  gives  to  Him,  in  its  omnipotent  energy, 
in  its  everlasting  sufficiency.  Oh,  will  you  not  this  day  believe 
that  that  blood  gives  you,  sinful  and  feeble  as  you  are,  liberty, 
confidence,  boldness  to  draw  nigh,  to  enter  the  very  Holiest  ? 
Yes,  believe  it,  that  the  blood  and  the  blood  alone,  brings  you 
into  the  very  presence,  into  the  living  and  abiding  fellowship  of 
the  everlasting  God.     And  let  your  response  to  God's  message 


300  Zbe  Ibolicst  of  Bll 


concerning  the  blood,  and  the  boldness  it  gives  you  be  nothing 
less  than  this,  that  this  very  moment  you  go  w  ith  the  utmost 
confidence,  and  take  your  place  in  the  most  intimate  fellowship 
with  God.  And  if  your  heart  condemn  you,  if  coldness  or 
unbelief  appear  to  make  a  real  entrance  impossible,  rest  not 
till  you  believe  and  prove  to  the  full  the  power  of  the  blood 
indeed  to  bring  you  nigh.  Having  boldness  by  the  blood  of 
Jesus, — what  then — let  us  draw  nigh ! 

1.  Which  is  now  greater  in  your  sight :  your  sin  or  the  blood  of  Jesus  ?  There  can  be  but  one 
answer.  Then  draw  nigh,  and  enter  in,  into  the  Holiest  of  All.  As  your  sin  has  hitherto  kept  you 
bach,  let  the  blood  now  bring  you  nigh.  And  the  blood  will  give  you  the  boldness  and  the  power  to 
abide. 

2.  "  One  drop  of  that  blood,  coming  out  of  the  Holiest  on  the  soul,  perfects  the  conscience, 
makes  that  there  is  no  more  conscience  of  sin,  and  enables  us  to  Hue  in  the  fellewship  of  God  and 
His  Son.  Such  a  soul,  sprinkled  with  the  blood,  is  able  to  enjoy  the  heavenly  treasures,  and  to 
accomplish  the  heavenly  service  of  the  living  God." 

3.  And  that  blood,  such  is  its  heavenly  cleansing  power,  can  keep  the  soul  clean.  "If  we 
walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the  light, "  if  we  live  in  the  Holiest,  in  the  light  of  His  countenance, 
"  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin,"  so  that  no  sin  touch  us,  whereby  we  lose  the  fellowship  with  the  Father. 

4.  Understand  how  the  Father's  heart  longs  that  His  children  draw  near  to  Him  boldly.  He 
gave  the  blood  of  His  Son  to  secure  it.  Let  us  honour  God,  and  honour  the  blood,  by  entering  the 
Holiest  with  great  boldness. 


^be  iboUeet  of  mi  36i 


LXXXIII. 


THE  NEW  AND  LIVING  WAY. 


X.— 19.  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holy  Place 
by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  the  way  which  he  dedicated  for  us,  a  new  and  living 
way,  through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say,  Ms  flesh ; 

22.  Let  us  draw  near. 

The  Holiest  of  All  is  opened  for  us  to  enter  in  and  appear 
before  God,  to  dwell  and  to  serve  in  His  very  presence.  The 
blood  of  the  one  sacrifice  for  ever,  taken  into  heaven  to  cleanse 
away  all  sin  for  ever,  is  our  title  and  our  boldness  to  enter  in. 
Now  comes  the  question,  What  is  the  way  that  leads  up  and 
through  the  opened  gate,  and  in  which  we  have  to  walk  if  we 
are  to  enter  in.  This  way,  the  only  way,  the  one  infallible  way 
is,  a  new  and  living  way,  which  Jesus  dedicated  for  us,  through 
the  veil,  that  is  to  say.  His  flesh.  T/ig  boldness  we  have  through 
the  blood  is  the  right  or  liberty  of  access  Jesus  won  for  us,  when 
we  regard  His  death  as  that  of  our  Substitute,  who  did  what  we 
can  never  do — made  redemption  of  transgressions,  and  put  away 
sin  for  ever.  The  new  and  living  way,  through  the  rent  veil, 
that  is,  His  flesh,  has  reference  to  His  death,  regarded  as  that 
of  our  Leader  and  Forerunner,  who  opened  up  a  path  to  God,  in 
which  He  first  walked  Himself,  and  then  draws  us  to  follow 
Him.  The  death  of  Jesus  was  not  only  the  dedication  or 
inauguration  of  the  new  sanctuary  and  of  the  new  covenant,  but 
also  of  the  new  way  into  the  holy  presence  and  fellowship  of 


362  ^be  Ibollcst  of  Sll 


God.  Whoever  in  faith  accepts  of  the  blood  He  shed  as  His 
boldness  of  entrance,  must  accept,  too,  of  the  way  He  opened  up 
as  that  in  which  he  walks. 

And  what  was  that  way  ?  The  way  through  the  veil,  that 
is,  His  flesh.  The  veil  is  the  flesh.  The  veil  that  separated 
inan  from  God  was  the  flesh,  human  nature  under  the  power  of 
sin.  Christ  came  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  dwelt  with 
us  here  outside  the  veil.  The  Word  was  made  flcsJi.  He  also 
Himself  in  like  manner  Partook  of  flesJi  and  blood.  In  the  days 
of  His  flesh,  He  was  tempted  like  as  we  are  ;  He  offered  prayer 
and  supplication  with  strong  crying  and  tears.  He  learned 
obedience  even  to  the  death.  Through  the  rent  veil  of  His 
flesh,  His  will,  His  life,  as  yielded  up  to  God  in  death.  He 
entered  into  the  Holiest.  Being  made  in  likeness  of  men., 
He  hnmbled  Hi)nself  becoming  obedient  even  unto  death.  Where- 
fore also  God  highly  exalted  Him.  Through  the  rent  veil  He 
rose  to  the  throne  of  God.  And  this  is  the  way  He  dedicated 
for  us.  The  very  path  in  which,  as  our  Substitute,  He  accom- 
plished redemption,  is  the  path  which  He  opened  for  us  to  walk 
in,  the  path  of  obedience  unto  death.  "  Christ  suffered  for  you, 
leaving  you  an  example  that  ye  should  follow  His  steps." 
Christ  our  High  Priest  is  as  literally  and  fully  Leader  and 
Forerunner  as  He  is  Substitute  and  Redeemer. 

His  way  is  our  way.  As  little  as  He  could  open  and  enter 
the  Holiest  for  us,  except  in  His  path  of  suffering  and  obedience 
and  self-sacrifice,  as  little  can  we  enter  in  unless  we  walk  in 
the  same  path.  Jesus  said  as  much  of  His  disciples  as  of  Him- 
self: Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground,  and  die,  it 
abideth  alone.  He  that  hateth  his  life  iji  this  world  shall  keep 
it  unto  life  eternal.  Paul's  law  of  life  is  the  law  of  life  for 
every  believer :   Hearing  about   in  the  body   the  dying  of  fesus, 


XLbe  Ibollest  of  BU  363 


t/iaf  the  life  also  of  Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  our  body. 
The  way  into  the  Holiest  is  the  way  of  the  rent  veil,  the  way  of 
sacrifice  and  of  death.  There  is  no  way  for  our  putting  away 
sin  from  us  but  the  way  of  Jesus  ;  whoever  accepts  His  finished 
work  accepts  what  constitutes  its  Spirit  and  its  power  ;  it  is 
for  every  man  as  for  the  Master — to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  self.  Christ's  death  was  something  entirely  and  essen- 
tially new,  and  so  also  His  resurrection  life;  a  life  out  of  death, 
such  as  never  had  been  known  before.  This  new  death  and 
new  life  constitute  the  new  and  living  way,  the  new  way  of 
living  in  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God. 

Even  as  when  Christ  spoke  of  taking  His  flesh  as  daily  food, 
so  here  where  the  Holy  Spirit  speaks  of  taking  the  rent  veil  of 
His  flesh  as  our  daily  life,  many  say:  This  is  a  hard  saying ; 
who  can  bear  it?  Who  then  can  be  saved f  To  those  who  are 
willing  and  obedient  and  believe,  all  things  are  possible,  because 
it  is  a  new  and  living  way.  A  new  way.  The  word  means 
ever  fresh,  a  way  that  never  decays  or  waxes  old  (viii.  13)  but 
always  retains  its  first  perfection  and  freshness.  A  living  way. 
A  way  always  needs  a  living  man  to  move  upon  it ;  it  does  not 
impart  either  life  or  strength.  This  way,  the  way  of  obedience 
and  suffering  and  self-sacrifice  and  death,  however  hard  it 
appears,  and  to  nature  utterly  impossible,  is  a  living  xvay.  It 
not  only  opens  a  track,  but  supplies  the  strength  to  carry  the 
traveller  along.  It  acts  in  the  power  of  the  endless  life,  in 
which  Christ  was  made  a  High  Priest.  We  saw  how  the  Holy 
Spirit  watches  over  the  way  into  the  Holiest,  and  how  He,  as 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  enabled  Christ,  in  opening  the  way,  to  offer 
Himself  without  spot  unto  God  ;  it  is  He  whose  mighty  energy 
pervades  this  way,  and  inspires  it  with  life  divine.  As  we  are 
made  partakers  of  Christ,  as  we  come  to  God  through  Him,  His 


364  ITbc  Iboliest  of  Hll 


life,  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  takes  possession 
of  us,  and  in  His  strength  we  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ 
Jesus.  The  way  into  the  Holiest  is  the  living  way  of  perfect 
conformity  to  Jesus,  wrought  in  us  by  His  Spirit. 

The  new  and  living  way  through  the  rent  veil  into  the 
Holiest.  We  now  know  what  it  is:  it  is  the  way  of  death.  Yes, 
the  way  of  death  is  the  way  of  life.  The  only  way  to  be  set 
free  from  our  fallen  nature,  with  the  curse  and  power  of  sin  rest- 
ing on  it,  is  to  die  to  it.  Jesus  denied  Himself,  would  do  nothing 
to  please  that  nature  He  had  taken,  sinless  though  it  was  in 
Him.  He  denied  it;  He  died  to  it.  This  was  to  Him  the  path 
of  life.  And  this  is  to  us  the  living  way.  As  we  know  Him  in 
the  power  of  His  resurrection,  He  leads  us  into  the  conformity 
to  His  death.  He  does  it  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  So 
His  death  and  His  life,  the  new  death  and  the  new  life  of 
deliverance  from  sin,  and  fellowship  with  God,  which  He  inau- 
gurated, work  in  us,  and  we  are  borne  along  as  He  was  to 
where  He  is.  Having  therefore  boldness,  to  enter  in  by  the 
new  and  living  way,  let  us  draw  nigh. 

h  When  first  a  believer  avails  himself  of  the  boldness  He  has  in  the  blood,  and  enters  into  the 
Holiest,  he  docs  not  understand  all  that  is  meant  by  the  new  and  living  way.  It  is  enough  if  his 
heart  is  right,  and  he  is  ready  to  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross.  In  due  time  it  will  be  re- 
vealed what  the  full  fellowship  is  with  His  Lord  in  the  way  He  opened  up,  of  obedience  unto  death. 

2.  The  new  and  living  way  is  not  only  the  way  for  once  entering  in,  but  the  way  for  a  daily 
walk,  entering  ever  deeper  into  Qod's  love  and  will. 

3.  The  way  of  life  is  the  way  of  death.  This  fallen  life,  this  self,  is  so  sinful  and  so  strong, 
there  is  no  way  of  deliverance  but  by  death.  But,  praise  God  !  the  way  of  death  is  the  way  of  life  ; 
in  the  power  of  Christ's  resurrection  and  indwelling  we  dare  to  walk  in  it. 


^be  Iboltcst  of  Hll  365 


LXXXIV. 

A  GREAT  PRIEST  OVER  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD. 

X.— 21.  And  having  a  great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God ;  let  us  draw 
near. 

We  .said  before  that  in  the  symbols  of  the  Mosaic  worship  there 
were  specially  four  things  that,  as  types  of  the  mystery  of  the 
coming  redemption,  demand  attention.  These  are — the  SancUimy^ 
the  Blood,  the  Way  into  the  Holiest,  the  Priest.  The  first  three, 
all  heavenly  things,  we  have  had  ;  we  now  come  to  the  fourth, 
the  chief  and  the  best  of  all — a  living  Person,  Jesus,  a  great  High 
Priest  over  the  house  of  God.  The  knowledge  of  what  He  has 
won  for  me,  the  entrance  into  the  Holiest ;  of  the  work  He  did 
to  win  it,  the  shedding  of  His  blood  ;  of  the  way  in  which  I  am  to 
enter  into  the  enjoyment  of  it  all — all  this  is  very  precious.  But 
there  is  something  better  still :  it  is  this,  that  the  living,  loving. 
Son  of  God  is  there,  personally  to  receive  me  and  make  me  partaker 
of  all  the  blessedness  that  God  has  for  me.  This  is  the  chief 
point :  we  have  such  a  High  Priest,  who  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  majesty  in  the  heavens.  Wherefore,  brethren, 
having  a  great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us  draw  near. 
And  what  is  now  the  work  we  need  Jesus  to  do  for  us  ? 
Has  it  not  all  been  done?  The  Holiest  is  opened.  Boldness 
through  the  blood  has  been  secured.  The  living  way  has  been 
dedicated  to  carry  us  in.     What  more  is  there  that  Jesus  has  to 


366  zbe  "Ibollest  of  au 


do  iov  us  ?  Nothing  more  ;  it  has  all  been  finished,  once  and  for 
ever.  And  why  is  it  then  we  are  pointed  to  Him  as  the  great 
Priest  over  the  house  of  God  ?  And  what  is  it  we  may  expect  of 
Him  ?  What  we  need,  and  what  we  must  look  to  Him  for  is  this, 
so  to  work  in  us  that  the  work  He  has  done  for  us  may  be  made 
real  ivitJiin  iis,  as  a  personal  experience  of  the  power  of  an 
endless  life  in  which  He  was  constituted  Priest.  Because  He 
liveth  ever,  we  read,  He  is  able  to  save  completely.  Salvation 
is  a  subjective,  experimental  thing — manifest  in  the  peace  and 
holiness  of  heart  He  gives.  We,  our  life,  our  inner  man,  our 
heart,  our  will  and  affections,  are  to  be  delivered  from  the  power 
of  sin,  and  to  taste  and  enjoy  the  putting  away  of  sin  as  a 
blessed  experience.  In  our  very  heart  we  are  to  find  and  feel 
the  power  of  His  redemption.  As  deep  and  strong  as  sin  proved 
itself  in  its  actual  power  and  its  mastery  within  us,  is  Jesus  to 
prove  the  triumph  of  redeeming  grace. 

His  one  work  as  Priest  over  the  house  of  God  is  to  bring  us 
into  it,  and  enable  us  to  live  there.  He  does  this  by  bringing 
God  and  the  soul  into  actual  harmony,  sympathy,  and  fellowship 
with  each  other.  As  Minister  of  the  sanctuary  He  does  all  that 
is  to  be  done  in  heaven  with  God ;  as  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant  He  does  all  that  is  to  be  done  here  on  earth,  in  our 
heart — the  one  as  effectually  as  the  other.  The  two  offices  are 
united  in  the  one  great  Priest;  in  each  act  of  His  He  unites 
both  functions,  to  the  soul  that  knows  what  to  expect,  and  trusts 
Him.  Every  movement  in  the  presence  of  God  can  have  its 
corresponding  movement  in  the  heart  of  man. 

And  how  is  this  effected? — In  virtue  of  His  union  with  us, 
and  our  union  with  Him.  Jesus  is  the  Second  Adam  ;  the  new 
Head  of  the  race.  He  is  it  in  virtue  of  His  real  humanity, 
having  in  it  the  power  of  true  divinity  that  fillcth  all.     Just  as 


trbc  IboUest  ot  BU  367 


Adam  was  our  forerunner  into  death,  and  we  have  all  the  power 
of  his  sin  and  death  working  in  us  and  drawing  us  on,  so  we 
have  Jesus  as  our  Forerunner  into  God's  presence,  with  all  the 
power  of  His  death  and  His  resurrection-life  working  in  us,  and 
drawing  and  lifting  us  in  with  divine  energy  into  the  Father's 
presence.  Yes,  Jesus  with  His  divine.  His  heavenly  life,  in  the 
power  of  the  throne  on  which  He  is  seated,  has  entered  into  the 
deepest  ground  of  our  being,  where  Adam,  where  sin,  do  their 
work,  and  is  there  unceasingly  carrying  out  His  work  of  lifting 
us  heavenward  into  God's  presence,  and  of  making  God's 
heavenly  presence  here  on  earth  our  portion. 

And  why  is  it  we  enjoy  this  so  little  ?  And  what  is  needed 
that  we  come  to  its  full  enjoyment  ?  And  how  can  Jesus  truly 
be  to  us  a  great  High  Priest,  giving  us  our  actual  life  in  the 
Holiest  of  All  ?  One  great  reason  of  failure  is  what  the  Epistle 
so  insists  on  :  our  ignorance  of  the  spiritual  perfection-truth  it 
seeks  to  teach,  and  specially  of  what  the  Holy  Spirit  witnesseth 
of  the  way  into  the  Holiest.  And  what  we  need  is  just  this, 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  Himself,  that  Jesus  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  be 
waited  on,  and  accepted,  and  trusted  to  do  the  work  in  power. 
Do  keep  a  firm  hold  of  this  truth,  that  when  our  great  High 
Priest  once  for  all  entered  the  Holiest,  and  sat  down  on  the 
throne,  it  was  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  dotvn  in  potver  into  the 
Jiearts  of  His  disciples,  through  whom  the  heavenly  High  Priest 
became  a  present  and  an  indivelling  Saviour,  bringing  down  with 
Him  into  their  hearts  the  presence  and  the  love  of  God.  That 
Pentecostal  gift,  in  the  power  of  the  glorified  Christ,  is  the  one 
indispensable  channel  of  the  power  of  Jesus'  priesthood.  Nothing 
but  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit  in  daily  life,  making  Jesus  present 
within  us,  abiding  continually,  can  keep  us  in  the  presence  of 
God  as  full  experience.     Jesus  is  no  outward  High  Priest,  who 


368  Zbc  1bOliC0t  of  HU 


can  save  us  as  from  a  distance.  No,  as  the  Second  Adam,  lie 
is  nowhere  if  He  is  not  in  us.  The  one  reason  why  the  truth 
of  His  heavenly  priesthood  is  so  often  powerless,  is  because  we 
look  upon  it  as  an  external  distant  thing,  a  work  going  on  in 
heaven  above  us.  The  one  cure  for  this  evil  is  to  know  that 
our  great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God  is  t/ie  glorified  Jesjis, 
who  in  the  Holy  Spirit  is  present  in  us,  and  makes  all  that  is 
done  in  heaven  above  for  us  to  be  done  within  us  too  by  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

He  is  Priest  over  the  house  of  God,  the  place  where  God 
dwells  ;  we  are  His  house  too.  And  as  surely  as  Jesus  ministers 
in  the  sanctuary  above,  He  moment  by  moment  ministers  in  the 
sanctuary  within.  Wherefore,  brethren,  having, --not  only  in 
gift,  not  onl)'  in  the  possession  of  right  and  thought,  but  in  our 
hearts, — having  a  great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us 
draw  near. 

7.  Having:  a  great  Priest !  iou  know  a  great  deal  of  Jesus,  but  do  you  know  this  that 
His  chief,  His  all-comprehensiue  ivork,  is  to'  bring  you  near,  oh  so  near,  to  God  ?  Has  He  done 
this  for  you  ?    If  not,  ask  Him,  trust  Him  for  it. 

2.  It  is  Jesus  Himself  I  want.  Himself  alone  can  satisfy  me.  It  is  in  the  holy  faith  of 
Jesus,  the  compassionate  sympathiser,  in  the  holy  love  of  Jesus  who  calls  us  brethren,  that  we 
can  draw  near  to  God.  It  is  in  a  heart  given  up,  with  its  trust  and  love  and  devotion  to  Jesus 
that  the  presence  of  God  will  be  felt. 

3.  We  have  such  a  High  Priest!  Yes  say,  I  have  Him;  in  all  His  power  and  love  He  is 
mine  ;  and  yield  to  Him  to  do  W/.s'  work. 


ITbe  Ibolicst  of  mi  369 


LXXXV. 

WITH  A   TRUE   HEART. 
X.— 22.  Let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart. 

We  have  been  looking  at  the  four  great  blessings  of  the  new 
worship  by  which  God  encourages  us  to  draw  near  to  Him.  We 
shall  now  see  what  the  four  chief  things  are  that  God  seeks  for 
in  us  as  we  come  to  Him.     Of  these  the  first  is,  a  true  heart. 

In  man's  nature  the  heart  is  the  central  power.  As  the  heart 
is  so  is  the  man.  The  desire  and  the  choice,  the  love  and  the 
hatred  of  the  heart  prove  what  a  man  is  already,  and  decide 
what  he  is  to  become.  Just  as  we  judge  of  a  man's  physical 
character,  his  size  and  strength  and  age  and  habits,  by  his  out- 
ward appearance,  so  the  heart  gives  the  real  inward  man  his 
character  ;  and  "  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart "  is  what  God 
looks  to.  God  has  in  Christ  given  us  access  to  the  secret  place 
of  His  dwelling,  to  the  inner  sanctuary  of  His  presence  and  His 
heart ;  no  wonder  that  the  first  thing  He  asks,  as  He  calls  us 
unto  Him,  is  the  heart — a  true  heart ;  our  inmost  being  must  in 
truth  be  yielded  to  Him,  true  to  Him. 

True  religion  is  a  thing  of  the  heart,  an  inward  life.  It  is 
only  as  the  desire  of  the  heart  is  fixed  upon  God,  the  whole 
heart  seeking  for  God,  giving  its  love  and  finding  its  joy  in  God, 
that  a  man  can  draw  near  to  God.  The  heart  of  man  was 
expressly  planned  and  created  and  endowed  with  all  its  powers, 

that  it  might  be  capable  of  receiving  and  enjoying  God  and  His 

24 


370  ttbc  1bolic6t  of  Bll 


love.  God's  great  quarrel  with  His  people  is  that  their  heart  is 
turned  from  Him.  In  chap.  iii.  \vc  heard  Him  complain  of  the 
hardening  of  the  heart,  the  wandering  heart,  the  unbelieving 
heart.  No  wonder  that  the  first  rccjuisite  for  entering  the 
Holiest  of  All  should  be  a  true  heart.  It  is  only  with  the  heart 
that  religion,  that  holiness,  that  the  love  and  the  will  of  God  can 
be  known.  God  can  ask  for  nothing  else  and  nothing  less  than 
the  heart — than  a  true  heart. 

What  the  word  true  means  we  see  from  the  use  of  it  made 
previously  (viii.  2  and  ix.  24),  the  true  tabernacle,  and,  the  Holy 
Place,  which  are  figures  of  the  true.  The  first  tabernacle  was 
only  a  figure  and  a  shadow  of  the  true.  There  was,  indeed,  a 
religious  service  and  worship,  but  it  had  no  real  abiding  power ; 
it  could  not  make  the  worshipper  perfect.  The  very  image, 
the  substance  and  reality,  of  the  heavenly  things  themselves, 
were  only  brought  by  Christ.  And  God  now  asks  that,  to 
correspond  with  the  true  sanctuary,  there  shall  be  a  true  heart. 
The  old  covenant,  with  its  tabernacle  and  its  worship,  which  was 
but  a  shadow,  could  not  put  the  heart  of  Israel  right.  In  the 
new  covenant  God's  first  promise  is,  /  will  write  My  law  in  tJie 
lieart:  a  new  Jieart  xuill  I  give  thee.  As  He  has  given  His  Son, 
full  of  grace  and  truth,  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  to  work 
all  in  us  as  the  Mediator  of  a  new  covenant,  to  write  His  law  in 
our  hearts,  He  calls  us  to  draw  nigh  with  a  true  heart. 

God  asks  for  the  heart.  Alas,  how  many  Christians  serve 
Him  still  with  the  service  of  the  old  covenant.  Religion  is  a 
thing  of  times  and  duties.  There  are  seasons  for  Bible-reading 
and  praying  and  church-going.  But  when  one  notices  how 
speedily  and  naturally  and  happily,  as  soon  as  it  is  freed  from 
restraint,  the  heart  turns  to  worldly  things,  one  feels  how  little 
there  is  of  the  heart  in  it  :  it  is  not  the  worship  of  a  true  heart, 


^be  Iboliest  of  Bll  371 


of  the  whole  heart.  The  heart,  with  its  Hfe  and  love  and  joy, 
has  not  yet  found  in  God  its  highest  good.  Religion  is  much 
more  a  thing  of  the  head  and  its  activities,  than  of  the  heart  and 
its  life,  of  the  human  will  and  its  power,  than  of  that  Spirit  which 
God  gives  within  us. 

The  invitation  comes :  Let  US  draw  near  with  a  true  heart. 
Let  no  one  hold  back  for  fear,  my  heart  is  not  true.  There  is 
no  way  for  obtaining  the  true  heart,  but  by  acting  it.  God  has 
given  you,  as  his  child,  a  new  heart — a  wonderful  gift,  if  you  but 
knew  it.  Through  ignorance  or  unbelief  or  disobedience  it  has 
grown  feeble  and  withered  ;  its  beating  can,  nevertheless,  still  be 
felt.  The  Epistle,  with  its  solemn  warnings  and  its  blessed 
teaching,  has  come  to  bring  arousing  and  healing.  Even  as 
Christ  said  to  the  man  with  the  withered  hand.  Stand  forth, 
He  calls  to  you  from  His  throne  in  heaven.  Rise,  and  come  and 
enter  in  with  a  true  heart.  As  you  hesitate,  and  look  within  to 
feel  and  to  find  out  if  the  heart  is  true,  and  in  vain  to  do  what 
is  needed  to  make  it  true.  He  calls  again.  Stretch  forth  thy 
hand.  When  He  spake  that  to  him  of  the  withered  arm,  whom 
He  had  called  to  rise  up  and  stand  before  Him,  the  man  felt  the 
power  of  Jesus'  eye  and  voice,  and  he  stretched  it  forth.  Do 
thou,  likewise.  Stretch  forth,  lift  up,  reach  out  that  withered 
heart  of  thine,  that  has  so  been  cherishing  its  own  impotence, — 
stretch  forth,  and  it  will  be  made  whole.  Yes,  in  the  very  act  of 
obeying  the  call  to  enter  in,  it  will  prove  itself  a  true  heart — a 
heart  ready  to  obey  and  to  trust  its  blessed  Lord,  a  heart  ready 
to  give  up  all  and  find  its  life  in  the  secret  of  His  presence. 
Yes,  Jesus,  the  great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God,  the  Mediator 
of  the  new  covenant,  with  the  new  heart  secured  thee,  calls, 
Draw  nigh  with  a  true  heart. 

During  these  last  years  God  has  been  rousing  His  people  to 


372  tTbe  "fcoliest  of  ail 


the  pursuit  of  holiness — that  is,  to  seek  the  entrance  into  the 
Holiest,  a  life  in  full  fellowship  with  Himself,  the  Holy  One.  In 
the  teaching  which  He  has  been  using  to  this  end,  two  words 
have  been  very  much  in  the  foreground — Consecration  and 
Faith.  These  are  just  what  are  here  put  first — a  true  heart  and 
the  fulness  of  faith.  The  true  heart  is  nothing  but  true 
consecration,  the  spirit  that  longs  to  live  wholly  for  God,  that 
gladly  gives  up  everything  that  it  may  live  wholly  for  Him,  and 
that  above  all  yields  up  the  heart,  as  the  key  of  the  life,  into  His 
keeping  and  rule.  True  religion  is  an  inward  life,  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let  us  enter  in  into  the  inner  sanctuary  of 
God's  love,  and  the  Spirit  will  enter  into  the  inner  sanctuary  of 
our  love,  into  our  heart.  Let  us  draw  nigh  with  a  true  heart — 
longing,  ready,  utterly  given  up  to  desire  and  receive  the 
blessing. 

1.  If  you  look  at  your  own  constitution,  you  see  how  the  head  and  the  heart  are  the  two  great 
centres  of  life  and  action.  Much  thought  and  study  make  the  head  weary.  Strong  emotion  or 
excitement  affects  the  heart.  It  is  the  heart  God  asks— the  power  of  desire  and  affection  and  will. 
The  head  and  the  heart  are  In  partnership.  God  tells  us  that  the  heart  must  rule  and  lead,  that  it 
is  the  heart  He  wants.  Our  religion  has  been  too  much  that  of  the  head— hearing  and  reading  and 
thinking.  Let  us  beware  of  allowing  these  to  lead  us  astray.  Let  them  stand  aside  at  times.  Let 
us  give  the  heart  time  to  assert  its  supremacy.     Let  us  draw  nigh  with  a  true  heart. 

2.  A  true  heart— true  in  what  it  says  that  it  thinks  of  itself;  true  in  what  it  says  that  it 
believes  of  God ;  true  in  what  it  professes  to  take  from  God  and  to  give  to  Him. 

3.  It  is  the  heart  God  wants  to  dwell  in.  It  is  in  the  state  of  the  heart  God  wants  to  prove  His 
power  to  bless.  It  is  in  the  heart  the  love  and  the  joy  of  God  are  to  be  known.  Let  us  draw  near 
with  a  true  heart. 


Zbc  fboucet  ot  Bll  373 


LXXXVI. 

THE  FULNESS  OF  FAITH. 

X.— 22.  Let  us  draw  near,  in  fulness  of  faith. 

This  translation,  the  fulness  of  faith,  is  not  only  more  correct 
than  that  of,  full  assurance  of  faith,  but  much  more  significant. 
Full  assurance  of  faith  refers  only  to  the  strength  and  confidence 
with  which  we  believe.  The  truth  we  accept  may  be  very 
limited  and  defective,  and  our  assurance  of  it  may  be  more  an 
undoubting  conviction  of  the  mind  than  the  living  apprehension 
of  the  heart.  In  both  respects  the  fulness  of  faith  expresses 
what  we  need, — a  faith  that  takes  in  objectively  all  that  God 
offers  it  in  its  fulness,  and  subjectively  all  the  powers  of  our 
heart  and  life  in  their  fulness.  Let  us  draw  near,  in  fulness 
of  faith. 

Here,  if  anywhere,  there  is  indeed  need  of  fulness  of  faith, 
that  we  may  take  in  all  the  fulness  of  the  provision  God  has 
made,  and  of  the  promises  that  are  waiting  for  us  to  inherit.  The 
message  comes  to  a  sinful  man  that  he  may  have  his  continual 
abode  in  the  Most  Holy ;  that,  more  real  and  near  than  with  his 
nearest  earthly  friend,  he  may  live  in  unbroken  fellowship  with 
the  Most  High  God.  He  is  assured  that  the  blood  of  Christ 
can  cleanse  his  conscience  in  such  power  that  he  can  draw  nigh 
to  God  with  a  perfect  conscience  and  with  undoubting  confidence, 
and  can  ask  and  expect  to  live  always  in  the  unclouded  light  of 


374  ^be  DoUest  of  HII 


God's  face.  He  receives  the  assurance  that  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  coming  from  out  of  the  Holiest,  can  enable  him  to 
walk  exactly  in  the  same  path  in  which  Christ  walked  on  His 
way  to  God,  and  make  that  way  to  him  a  new  and  living  way, 
with  nothing  of  decay  or  weariness  in  his  progress.  This  is  the 
fulness  of  faith  we  are  called  to.  But,  above  all,  to  look  to 
Jesus  in  all  the  glory  in  which  He  has  been  revealed  in  the 
Epistle,  as  God  and  Man,  as  Leader  and  Forerunner,  as  Melchize- 
dek,  as  the  Minister  of  the  sanctuary  and  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant — in  one  word,  as  our  great  Priest  over  the  house  of 
God.  And,  looking  to  Him,  to  claim  that  He  shall  do  for  us  this 
one  thing,  to  bring  us  nigh,  and  even  on  earth  give  us  to  dwell 
for  ever  in  the  presence  of  God. 

Faith  ever  deals  with  impossibilities.  Its  only  rule  or  measure 
is  what  God  has  said  to  be  possible  to  Him.  When  we  look  at 
our  lives  and  their  failures,  at  our  sinfulness  and  weakness,  at 
those  around  us,  the  thought  will  come  up — Is  it  for  me?  Dare 
I  expect  it  ?  Is  it  not  wearying  myself  in  vain  to  think  of  it  or 
to  seek  for  it  ?  Soul !  the  God  who  redeemed  thee,  when  an 
enemy,  with  the  blood  of  His  Son — what  thinkest  thou  ?  would 
He  not  be  willing  thus  to  take  thee  to  His  heart?  He  who 
raised  Jesus,  when  He  had  died  under  the  cur.se  of  thy  sin.s, 
from  the  de^ith  of  the  grave  to  the  throne  of  His  glory,  would 
He  not  be  able  to  take  thee,  too,  and  give  thee  a  place  within  the 
veil  ?  Do  believe  it.  He  longs  to  do  it ;  He  is  able  to  do  it. 
His  home  and  His  heart  have  room  for  thee  even  now.  Let  us 
draw  near  in  fulness  of  faith. 

In  fulness  of  faith.  The  word  has  also  reference  to  that 
full  measure  of  faith  which  is  found  when  the  whole  heart  is 
filled  and  posse.ssed  by  it.  We  have  very  little  idea  of  how  the 
weakness  of  our  faith  is  owing  to  its   being  more  a  confident 


XTbe  Iboliest  of  Bll  375 


persuasion  of  the  mind  with  regard  to  the  truth  of  what  God 
says,  than  the  Hving  apprehension  and  possession  of  the  eternal 
spiritual  realities  of  the  truth  with  the  heart.  The  Holy  Spirit 
asks  us  first  for  a  true  heart,  and  then  at  once,  as  its  first 
exercise,  for  fulness  of  faith.  There  is  a  faith  of  insight,  a 
faith  of  desire,  a  faith  of  trust  in  the  truth  of  the  word,  and  a 
faith  of  personal  acceptance.  There  is  a  faith  of  love  that 
embraces,  a  faith  of  will  that  holds  fast,  and  a  faith  of  sacri- 
fice that  gives  up  everything,  and  a  faith  of  despair  that 
abandons  all  hope  in  self,  and  a  faith  of  rest  that  waits  on  God 
alone.  This  is  all  included  in  the  faith  of  the  true  heart,  the 
fulness  of  faith,  in  which  the  whole  being  surrenders  and 
lets  go  all,  and  yields  itself  to  God  to  do  His  work.  In 
fulness  of  faith  let  us  draw  nigh. 

In  fulness  of  faith,  not  of  thought.  What  God  is  about  to  do 
to  you  is  supernatural,  above  tvhat yoii  can  tJiink.  It  is  a  love  that 
passes  knowledge  is  going  to  take  possession.  God  is  the  incom- 
prehensible, the  hidden  One.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  secret, 
incomprehensible  working  and  presence  of  God.  Do  not  seek 
to  understand  everything.  Draw  nigh — it  never  says  with  a 
clear  head,  but  with  a  true  heart.  Rest  upon  God  to  do  for  you 
far  more  than  you  understand. 

In  fulness  of  faith,  and  not  in  fulness  of  feeling.  When  you 
come,  and,  gazing  into  the  opened  Holiest  of  All,  hear  the  voice 
of  Him  that  dwells  between  the  cherubim  call  you  to  come  in  ; 
and,  as  you  gaze,  long  indeed  to  enter  and  to  dwell  there,  the 
word  comes  again,  Draw  nigh  with  a  true  heart !  Your  answer 
is.  Yes,  Lord  ;  with  my  whole  heart — with  that  new  heart  thou 
thyself  hast  given  me.  You  make  the  surrender  of  yourself,  to 
live  only  and  always  in  His  presence  and  for  His  service.  The 
voice  speaks   again :    Let  it   be   To-day — Now,   in  fulness   of 


376  ZTbc  fjollest  of  ail 


faith.  You  have  accepted  what  He  offers.  You  have  given 
what  he  asks.  You  believe  that  He  accepts  the  surrender.  You 
believe  that  the  great  Priest  over  the  house  takes  possession 
of  your  inner  life,  and  brings  you  before  God.  And  yet  you 
wonder  you  feel  so  little  changed.  You  feel  just  like  the  old 
self  you  were.  Now  is  the  time  to  listen  to  the  voice — 
In  fulness  of  faith,  not  of  feeling!  Look  to  God,  who  is  able 
to  do  above  what  we  ask  or  think.  Trust  His  power.  Look 
to  Jesus  on  the  throne,  living  there  to  bring  you  in.  Claim 
the  Spirit  of  the  exalted  One  as  His  Pentecostal  gift.  Remember 
these  are  all  divine,  spiritual  mysteries  of  grace,  to  be  revealed 
in  you.  Apart  from  feeling,  without  feeling,  in  fulness  of 
faith,  in  bare,  naked  faith  that  honours  God,  enter  in.  Reckon 
yourself  to  be  indeed  alive  to  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  taken  in  into 
His  presence.  His  love,  His  very  heart. 

1.  Be  followers  of  those  who,  through  faith  end  longsujfcring,  inherited  the  promises.  Faith 
accepts  and  rejoices  in  the  gift ;  longsuffering  waits  for  the  full  enjoyment ;  and  so  faith  in  due 
time  inherits,  and  the  promise  becomes  an  experience.  By  faith  at  once  take  your  place  in  the 
Holiest ;  wait  on  the  Holy  Spirit  in  your  inner  life  to  reveal  it  in  the  power  of  God  ;  your  High  Priest 
will  see  to  your  inheriting  the  blessing. 

2.  In  the  fulness  of  the  whole  heart  to  accept  the  whole  fulness  of  God's  saluaiion—this  is 
what  God  ashs. 

3.  As  in  heaven  so  on  earth.  The  more  I  look  at  the  fulness  of  grace  in  Christ,  the  more  the 
fulness  of  faith  will  grow  in  me.     Of  His  fulness  have  we  received,  and  grace  for  grace. 

4.  A  whole  chapter  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  exhibiting  of  what  this  fulness  of  faith  implies.  Let 
IIS  go  on  to  study  it  with  the  one  object  for  which  it  is  given — our  entering  into  that  Ufa  in  the  will 
and  louc  of  God  which  Jesus  has  secured  for  us. 


trbe  Iboliest  of  ail  377 


LXXXVII. 

OUR  HEARTS   SPRINKLED. 
X.— 22.  Let  us  draw  near  .  .  .  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience. 

In  verse  19  we  had  boldness  through  the  blood  of  Jesus,   as 

one  of  the  four  precious  things  prepared  for  us  by  God.  It  is 
that  actual  liberty  or  right  which  the  blood  of  Jesus  gives, 
apart  from  any  use  we  make  of  it.  Along  with  the  opened 
sanctuary,  and  the  living  way,  and  the  great  Priest,  the  blood 
and  our  boldness  in  it  is  a  heavenly  reality  waiting  our  faith 
and  acceptance.  Here  the  blood  is  mentioned  a  second  time, 
and  our  being  sprinkled  with  it  as  one  of  the  things  God  asks 
of  us.  It  is  in  the  personal  application  and  experience  of  the 
power  of  the  blood  we  are  to  draw  nigh.  This  second  mention 
of  the  blood  is  in  accord  with  what  we  had  in  chap.  ix.  of  its 
twofold  sprinkling.  First,  Christ  entered  with  it  into  heaven,  to 
cleanse  the  heavenly  things,  and  fulfil  the  type  of  the  sprinkling 
on  the  mercy-seat.  It  proved  its  power  with  God  in  putting 
away  sins.  And  then  we  read  of  its  cleansing  our  conscience. 
The  blood  which  has  had  its  mighty  operation  in  heaven  itself 
has  as  mighty  power  in  our  hearts.  It  makes  us  partakers  of 
a  divine  and  eternal  cleansing.  In  heaven  the  power  of  the 
blood  is  proved  to  be  infinite  and  immeasurable,  never-ceasing 
and  eternal,  giving  boldness  to  enter  even  as  Christ  did.  As 
the  soul  learns  to  believe  and  rejoice  in   this  heavenly  power 


378  zbe  IboUcst  of  Bll 


of  the  blood,  it  will  claim  and  receive  the  very  same  power 
in  the  heart ;  as  Jesus  washes  us  in  His  blood,  we  know  by 
faith  what  it  is  to  have,  in  a  heavenly  reality,  a  heart  sprinkled 
from  an  evil  conscience. 

There  will  ever  be  harmony  between  a  home  and  those  who 
dwell  in  it,  between  an  environment  and  the  life  that  is  sustained 
by  it.  There  must  be  harmony  between  the  Holiest  of  All  and 
the  soul  that  is  to  enter  in.  That  harmony  begins  with,  and 
has  its  everlasting  security  in,  the  blood  of  sprinkling.  The 
ever-living  and  never-ceasing  energy  of  the  blood,  e\cr  speak- 
ing better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel  and  keeping  heaven 
open  for  me,  has  a  like  effect  on  my  heart.  The  blood  has  put 
away  the  thought  of  sin  from  God  ;  He  remembers  it  no  more 
for  ever.  The  blood  puts  away  the  thought  of  sin  in  me  too, 
taking  away  the  evil  conscience  that  condemns  me.  The  better 
things  which  the  blood  speaks  in  heaven,  it  speaks  in  my  heart 
too ;  it  lifts  me  into  that  heavenly  sphere,  that  new  state  of  life 
and  intercourse  with  God,  in  which  an  end  has  been  made  of 
sin,  and  the  soul  is  taken  in  to  the  full  and  perfect  enjoyment 
of  the  love  of  God. 

The  action  of  the  blood  in  heaven  is  unceasing — never  a 
moment  but  the  blood  is  the  delight  of  the  Father  and  the  song 
of  the  ransomed.  Draw  nigh  when  thou  wilt,  the  blood  is  there, 
abiding  continually;  not  a  moment's  interval.  And  even  so 
will  it  be  in  the  soul  that  enters  in.  The  difficulty  that  staggers 
the  faith  of  many  lies  just  here  :  they  cannot  understand  how 
one  who  has  to  live  amid  the  cares  and  engagements  and 
companionships  of  this  daily  life  can  every  moment  maintain 
a  heart  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience.  They  do  not  know 
that,  if  once,  with  a  heart  sprinkled  they  enter  in,  they  are  in  an 
inner    sanctuary,    where    everything    acts   in  the   power  of  the 


Ubc  Iboliest  of  Bll  379 


upper  world,  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life.  They  breathe  the 
inspiring,  invigorating  air  of  the  Holiest  of  All ;  they  breathe 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  enjoy  the  power  of  the  resurrection  life. 
The  Minister  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary  is  also  the  Mediator  of 
the  new  covenant  in  our  hearts.  All  He  does  in  heaven  He 
does  each  moment  on  earth  in  our  hearts,  if  faith  will  trust 
Him  ;  for  the  blood  of  sprinkling  is  the  blood  of  the  covenant. 

And  what  may  be  the  reason  that  so  few  Christians  can 
testify  of  the  joy  and  the  power  of  a  heart  at  all  times  sprinkled 
from  an  evil  conscience?  The  answer  is,  That  in  the  appre- 
hension of  this,  as  of  every  other  truth,  there  are  stages  accord- 
ing to  the  measure  of  faith  and  faithfulness.  See  it  in  Israel. 
There  you  have  three  stages.  The  Israelite  who  entered  the 
outer  court  saw  the  altar  and  the  blood  sprinkled  there,  and 
received  such  assurance  of  pardon  as  that  could  give  him. 
The  priest  who  was  admitted  to  the  Holy  Place  not  only  saw 
the  blood  sprinkled  on  the  brazen  altar,  he  had  it  sprinkled 
upon  himself,  and  might  see  it  sprinkled  on  the  golden  altar 
in  the  Holy  Place.  His  contact  with  the  blood  was  closer, 
and  he  was  admitted  to  a  nearer  access.  And  the  access 
of  the  high  priest  was  still  more  complete ;  he  might,  with 
the  blood  for  the  mercy-seat,  once  a  year  enter  within  the 
veil.  Even  so  there  are  outer-court  Christians,  who  trust  in 
Christ  who  died  on  Calvary,  but  know  very  little  of  His 
heavenly  life,  or  near  access  to  God,  or  service  for  others. 
Beyond  these  there  are  Christians  who  know  that  they  are 
called  to  be  priests  and  to  live  in  the  service  of  God  and  their 
fellow-men.  They  know  more  of  the  power  of  the  blood  as 
setting  apart  for  service ;  but  yet  their  life  is  still  without  the 
veil.  But  then  come  those  who  know  what  Christ's  entering 
with  His  blood  implies  and  procures,  and  who  experience  that 


380  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


the  Holy  Spirit  applies  the  blood  in  such  power,  that  it  indeed 
brings  to  the  life  in  the  inner  sanctuary,  in  the  full  and  abiding 
joy  of  God's  presence.^ 

Let  us  draw  near,  with  a  true  heart,  in  fulness  of  faith, 
having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience.  Oh, 
let  us  not  bring  a  reproach  upon  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  by 
not  believing  in  its  power  to  give  us  perfect  access  to  God. 
Let  us  listen  and  hear  them  sing  without  ceasing  the  praise  of 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb  in  heaven  ;  as  we  trust  and  honour  and 
rejoice  in  it  we  shall  enter  the  heaven  of  God's  presence. 

7.  "  Wherein  is  the  blood  of  Jesus  better  than  the  blood  of  goats  and  bulls,  if  it  cannot  free 
us  from  the  spirit  of  bondage  and  the  euil  conscience,  if  it  cannot  give  us  a  full  glad  confidence 
before  God  7  What  Jesus  hath  perfected  we  can  experience  and  enjoy  as  perfect  in  our  heart 
and  conscience.  You  dishonour  your  Saviour  when  you  do  not  seek  to  experience  that  He  has 
perfected  you  as  touching  the  conscience,  and  when  you  do  not  live  with  a  heart  entirely  cleansed 
from  the  euil  conscience.  "STEINHOFER. 

2.  A  true  heart— a  heart  sprinkled :  you  see  everything  depends  upon  the  heart  God  can 
do  nothing  for  us  from  without,  only  by  what  He  can  put  into  the  heart.  Of  all  that  Jesus  is  and 
does  as  High  Priest  in  heaven  I  cannot  have  the  least  experience,  but  as  it  is  revealed  in  the  heart. 
The  whole  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  in  the  heart.  Let  us  draw  nigh  with  a  true  heart,  a  sprinkled 
heart,  our  inmost  being  entirely  and  unceasingly  under  the  heavenly  power  of  the  blood. 

^  "  T/ie  blood  contains  life  (John  vi.  53).  The  blood  not  only  removes  death 
(judicial  and  spiritual),  but  it  gives  and  preserves  life  (judicial  and  spiritual).  It 
'|uickens.  We  are  not  only  to  be  sprinkled  with  it  outwardly,  but  we  are  to  receive 
it  inwardly,  to  drink  it.  As  with  the  water,  so  with  the  blood,  they  are  for  inward 
as  well  as  outward  application." — H.  BONAR. 


trbe  Ibollest  ot  BU  38i 


LXXXVIII. 

OUR  BODY  WASHED. 
X.— 22.  Let  us  draw  near  .  .  .  our  body  washed  with  pure  water. 

Man  belongs  to  two  worlds,  the  visible  and  the  invisible.  In 
his  constitution,  the  material  and  the  spiritual,  body  and  soul,  are 
wonderfully  united.  In  the  fall  both  came  under  the  power  of 
sin  and  death  ;  in  redemption  deliverance  has  been  provided  for 
both.  It  is  not  only  in  the  interior  life  of  the  soul,  but  in  that 
of  the  body  too,  that  the  power  of  redemption  can  be  manifested. 
In  the  Old  Testament  worship  the  external  was  the  more 
prominent.  It  consisted  mostly  in  carnal  ordinances,  imposed 
until  a  time  of  reformation.  They  taught  a  measure  of  truth, 
they  exercised  a  certain  influence  on  the  heart,  but  they  could 
not  make  the  worshipper  perfect.  It  was  only  with  the  New 
Testament  that  the  religion  of  the  inner  life,  the  worship  of  God 
in  spirit  and  truth,  was  revealed.  And  yet  we  need  to  be  on  the 
watch  lest  the  pursuit  of  the  inner  life  lead  us  to  neglect  the 
external.  It  is  in  the  body,  as  much  as  in  the  spirit,  that  the 
saving  power  of  Christ  Jesus  must  be  felt.  It  was  with  this 
view  that  our  Lord  adopted  one  of  the  Jewish  washings,  and 
instituted  the  baptism  with  water.  He  that  believed  with  the 
heart,  came  with  the  body  to  be  baptized.  It  was  a  token  that 
the  whole  exterior  physical  life,  with  all  its  functions  and 
powers,  was  to  be   His  too.     In  was  in  this  connection  John 


382  Zbc  Ibolfest  of  ail 


wrote  :  TJiere  are  three  who  bear  tvituess,  the  Spirit  and  tJie  tvaier 
and  the  blood.  The  same  Spirit  who  applies  the  blood  in  power 
to  the  heart,  takes  [)ossession  and  mastery  of  the  body  washed 
with  water.  And  where  in  Scripture  the  word  and  water  are 
joined  together  (Eph.  v.  26;  John  xiii.  10;  xv.  3),  it  is  because 
the  word  is  the  external  manifestation  of  what  must  rule  our 
whole  outer  life  too. 

It  is  in  this  connection  the  two  expressions  are  used  here  : 
Our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  our  bodies  washed 
with  pure  water.  The  thought  was  suggested  to  our  author  by 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  In  the  court  there  were  only  two 
things  to  be  seen — the  brazen  altar  and  the  laver.  At  the  one, 
the  priest  received  and  sprinkled  the  blood  ;  at  the  other, 
he  found  the  water  in  which  he  washed,  ere  he  entered  the 
Holy  Place.  At  the  installation  of  the  priests  in  their  office  they 
were  first  washed  and  then  sprinkled  with  blood  (Ex.  xxix. 
4,  20).  On  the  great  day  of  atonement  the  high  priest,  too, 
had  first  to  wash  ere  he  entered  into  the  Holiest  with 
the  blood  (Lev.  xvi.  4).  And  so  the  lesson  comes  to  us  that  if 
we  draw  near  with  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience, 
we  must  also  have  the  body  washed  with  pure  water.  The 
liberty  of  access,  the  cleansing  the  blood  gives,  can  only  be 
enjoyed  in  a  life  of  which  every  action  is  cleansed  by  the  word. 
Not  only  in  the  heart  and  the  disposition,  but  in  the  body  and 
the  outer  visible  life,  everything  must  be  clean.  Who  shall 
ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord?  or  who  shall  stand  in  His  Holy 
Place  ?  He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a  pit  re  heart.  A  heart 
sprinkled  with  the  blood,  a  body  washed  with  pure  water  from 
every  stain, — these  God  hath  joined  together ;  let  no  man 
separate  them.  There  have  been  some  who  have  sought  very 
earnestly  to  enter  into  the  Holiest  of  All  and  have  failed.     The 


^be  IboUcst  of  mi  383 


reason  was  tha^  tney  had  not  clean  hands,  they  were  not  ready 
to  have  everything  that  is  not  perfectly  holy  discovered  and  put 
away.  Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners,  and  purify  your  hearts,  ye 
double-minded — is  a  word  that  always  holds.  The  blood  of  Christ 
has  unspeakable  and  everlasting  power  for  the  soul  that,  with  a 
true  heart,  is  ready  to  put  away  every  sin.  Where  this  is  not 
the  case,  and  the  body  is  not  washed  with  pure  water,  the  perfect 
conscience  which  the  blood  gives  cannot  be  enjoyed. 

Our  body  washed  with  pure  water.  It  is  not  only  in  spirit, 
but  with  the  body  too,  we  enter  into  the  Holiest  of  All.  It  is  on 
us  here,  where  we  are  in  the  body,  that  the  presence  of  God 
descends.  Our  whole  life  in  the  flesh  is  to  be  in  that  presence  ; 
the  body  is  very  specially  the  temple,  and  in  charge  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  in  the  body  the  Father  is  to  be  glorified.  Our  whole 
being,  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  is  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
a  holy  sacrifice  upon  the  altar,  a  living  sacrifice  for  service  before 
God.  With  the  body,  too,  we  live  and  walk  in  the  Holiest. 
Our  eating  and  drinking,  our  sleeping,  our  clothing,  our  labour 
and  relaxation, — all  these  things  have  more  influence  on  our 
spiritual  life  than  we  know.  They  often  interrupt  and  break 
the  fellowship  we  seek  to  maintain.  The  heart  and  the  body 
are  inseparably  joined — a  heart  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 
science needs  a  body  washed  with  pure  water. 

When  He  cometh  into  the  world  He  saith,  A  body  didst 
thou  prepare  for  Me.  This  word  of  Christ  must  be  adopted  by 
each  of  His  followers.  Nothing  will  help  us  to  live  in  this  world, 
and  keep  ourselves  unspotted,  but  the  Spirit  that  was  in  Christ, 
that  looked  upon  His  body  as  prepared  by  God  for  His 
service ;  that  looks  upon  our  body  as  prepared  by  Him  too,  that 
we  might  offer  it  to  Him.  Like  Christ  we  too  have  a  body,  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  dv/ells.     Like  Christ  we  too  must  yield 


384  TLbc  ftoliest  of  Bll 


our  body,  with  every  member,  every  power,  every  action,  to 
fulfil  His  will,  to  be  offered  up  to  Him,  to  glorify  Him.  Like 
Christ  we  must  prove  in  our  body  that  we  are  holy  to  the  Lord. 
The  blood  that  is  sprinkled  on  thy  heart  came  from  the  body 
of  Jesus,  prepared  by  God,  and,  in  His  whole  life,  even  to  His 
one  offering,  given  up  to  God.  The  object  of  that  blood 
sprinkling  is  that  thy  body,  of  which  the  heart  sprinkled  with 
the  blood  is  the  life,  should,  like  His,  be  wholly  given  up  to  God. 
Oh.  seek  to  take  in  this  blessed  truth,  and  to  accept  it  fully. 
The  heart  sprinkled  from  the  evil  conscience  will  then  become 
an  unbroken  experience,  and  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  the  ever- 
living  motive  and  power  for  a  life  in  the  body,  like  Christ's,  a 
sacrifice  holy  and  acceptable  to  God. 

7.  /  am  deeply  persuaded  that  in  the  self-pleasing  which  we  allow  in  gratifying  the  claims  of 
the  body,  we  shall  find  one  of  the  most  frequent  causes  of  the  gradual  decline  of  our  fellowship 
with  God.  Do  remember,  it  was  through  the  body  that  Satan  conquered  in  Paradise ;  it  was  in  the 
body  he  tempted  Christ  and  had  to  be  resisted.  It  was  in  suffering  of  the  body,  as  when  He 
hungered,  that  Christ  was  perfected.  It  is  only  when  the  law  of  self-denial  is  strictly  applied  to 
the  body,  that  we  can  dwell  in  the  Holiest. 

2.  He  was  tempted  in  all  points,  like  as  we  are— in  His  body  uery  specially,  and  is  able  to 
succour  us.  Let  the  committal  of  our  body  into  the  keeping  and  the  rule  of  Jesus  be  uery  definite 
and  entire. 

3.  "  If  Miranda  wits  tu  run  a  race  for  her  life,  she  would  submit  to  a  diet  that  was  proper  for 
it.  As  the  race  which  is  set  before  her  is  a  race  for  holiness  and  heavenly  affection,  so  her  every- 
day diet  has  only  this  one  end—to  make  her  body  fitter  for  this  spiritual  life." 


XLbc  IboHeat  of  ail  385 


LXXXIX. 

LET  US  DRAW  NEAR. 
X.— 22.  Wherefore,  brethren,  let  us  draw  near. 

We  have  studied  the  four  great  blessings  of  the  new  worship, 
as  the  motives  and  encouragements  for  us  to  draw  nigh.  They 
are — the  Holiest  opened  up.  Boldness  through  the  blood,  the  New 
and  living  way,  and  the  Great  Priest  over  the  hotise  of  God. 
And  we  have  considered  the  four  great  marks  of  the  true 
worshipper — A  true  heart,  Fulness  of  faith.  The  heart  sprinkled, 
and  The  body  cleansed.  We  now  come  to  the  four  injunctions 
which  come  to  us  out  of  the  opened  sanctuary — and  specially 
to  the  first — Let  us  draw  near.  Both  in  speaking  of  the 
entering  in  of  Christ,  and  the  power  of  His  blood  in  chap,  ix., 
and  in  the  exposition  of  our  context,  we  have  had  abundant 
occasion  to  point  out  what  is  meant  by  this  entering  in,  and 
what  is  needed  for  it.  And  yet  it  may  be  well  to  gather  up  all 
we  have  said,  and  in  the  very  simplest  way  possible,  once 
again,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  throw  open  the  door,  and  to  help 
each  honest-hearted  child  of  God  to  enter  in,  and  take  his  place 
for  life  in  the  home  the  Father  has  prepared  for  him. 

And  first  of  all  I  would  say  :  Believe  that  a  life  in  the  Holiest 

of  All,  a  life  of  continual  abiding  in   God's  presence,  is  most 

certainly  your  duty  and  zvithin  yotir  power.     As   long  as  this 

appears  a  vague  uncertainty,  the  study  of  our  Epistle  must  be 

25 


386  ube  fjollcst  of  an 


in  vain.  Its  whole  teaching  has  been  to  prove  that  the  wonderful 
priesthood  of  Christ,  in  which  He  does  everything  in  the  power 
of  an  endless  life,  and  is  therefore  able  to  save  completely ; 
that  His  having  opened  a  way  through  the  rent  \eil  into  the 
Holiest,  and  entered  in  with  His  blood  ;  that  His  sitting  on  the 
throne  in  heavenly  power,  as  Minister  of  the  sanctuary  and 
Mediator  of  the  covenant;  that  all  this  means  nothing  if  it  does 
not  mean — t/ie  Holiest  is  open  for  Jts.  We  may,  we  must, 
and  we  can  live  there.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  summing 
up  of  all.  Wherefore  brethren,  having-  boldness  to  enter- 
let  us  draw  nigh,  if  a  real  entrance  into  and  abode  in  the 
Holiest  is  not  for  us  ?  No,  beloved  Christian,  do  believe,  it  can 
be.  Let  no  thought  of  thy  weakness  and  unfaithfulness  hold  thee 
back.  Begin  to  look  at  God,  who  has  set  the  door  open  and 
calls  thee  in ;  at  the  blood  that  has  prevailed  over  sin  and 
death,  and  given  thee  a  boldness  that  nothing  can  hinder  ;  at 
Christ  the  almighty  and  most  loving  High  Priest,  who  is  to 
bring  thee  in  and  keep  thee  in  ;  and  believe :  yes,  such  a  life  is 
meant  for  me ;  it  is  possible ;  it  is  my  duty ;  God  calls  me  to  it ; 
and  say,  then,  whether  thy  heart  would  not  desire  and  long  to 
enter  into  this  blessed  rest,  the  home  of  God's  love. 

The  second  step  is,  the  surrender  to  Christ,  by  Him  to  be 
brought  into  the  life  of  abiding  fellowship  with  God.  This 
surrender  implies  an  entire  giving  up  of  the  life  of  nature  and  of 
self;  an  entire  separation  from  the  world  and  its  spirit ;  an 
entire  acceptance  of  God's  will  to  command  my  life,  in  all 
things,  down  to  the  very  least.  To  some  this  surrender  comes 
as  the  being  convicted  of  a  number  of  things  which  they  thought 
harmless,  and  which  they  now  see  to  have  been  in  the  will  of 
the  flesh  and  of  man.  To  others  it  comes  as  a  call  to  part  with 
some   single  doubtful   thing,  or  some  sin   against  which  they 


^be  Iboliest  of  Bll  387 


have  hopelessly  struggled.  The  surrender  of  all  becomes  only- 
possible  when  the  soul  sees  how  truly  and  entirely  Jesus,  the 
Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  has  undertaken  for  all,  and 
engages  to  put  His  own  delight  in  God's  law  into  the  heart, 
to  give  the  will  and  the  strength  to  live  in  all  God's  will. 
That  faith  gives  the  courage  to  place  oneself  before  Christ  and 
to  say — Lord,  here  am  I,  ready  to  be  led  by  Thee  in  the 
new  and  living  way  of  death  to  my  will,  and  a  life  in  God's  will 
alone :  I  give  up  all  to  Thee. 

Then  comes,  accompanying  this  surrender,  tJie  faith  that 
Jesus  does  Jtow  accept  and  undertake  for  all.  The  more  general 
faith  in  His  power,  which  led  to  the  surrender,  becomes  a 
personal  appropriation.  I  know  that  I  cannot  lift  or  force 
myself  into  the  Holiest.  I  trust  Jesus,  as  my  almighty  and 
ever-living  Priest  on  the  throne,  even  now,  at  this  moment,  to 
take  me  in  within  the  veil,  to  take  charge  of  me  there,  and 
enable  me  to  walk  up  and  down  before  the  face  of  the  living 
God,  and  serve  Him.  However  high  and  impossible  such  a  life 
appears,  I  cannot  doubt  but  that  He  who  with  His  blood  opened 
the  Holiest  for  me  will  take  me  in ;  and  that  He  who  sits  on  the 
throne  as  my  great  High  Priest  is  able  and  faithful  to  keep  me 
in  God's  presence.  Apart  from  any  feeling  or  experience  of  a 
change  I  believe  He  takes  me  in,  and  I  say  :  Thank  God,  I  am 
in  the  Holiest.     Let  US  draw  nigh  in  fulness  of  faith. 

And  then  follows,  the  life  of  faith  in  the  Holiest^  holding  fast 
my  confidence  and  the  glorying  of  hope  firm  to  the  end. 
I  believe  Jesus  takes  me  in  to  the  fulfilment  and  the 
experience  of  all  the  new  covenant  blessings,  and  makes  me 
inherit  all  the  promises.  I  look  to  Him  day  by  day  to  seal 
my  faith  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven  in  my 
heart.      The  disciples,  when  their  Lord   ascended  the  throne, 


388  Sbe  Dolicdt  of  Bll 


kept  waiting,  praising,  praying,  till  the  Spirit  came  as  the 
witness  and  the  rev^ealer  within  their  hearts  of  the  glory  of 
Jesus  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  It  was  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
that  they  truly  entered  within  the  veil,  to  which  the  Forerunner 
had  drawn  their  longing  hearts.  The  soul  that  gives  itself  over 
to  a  life  within  the  veil,  in  full  surrender  and  in  simple  faith,  can 
count  upon  this  most  surely,  that,  in  the  power  of  the  eternal, 
the  Pentecostal  Spirit  in  the  heart,  faith  will  become  experience, 
and  the  joy  unspeakable  be  its  abiding  portion — Wherefore, 
brethren,  let  us  draw  near! 

1.  Having  boldness  to  enter  in  is  the  summary  of  the  doctrinal  teaching  of  the  first  half 
of  the  Epistle ;  let  us  draw  nigh,  the  summary  of  the  life  and  practice  which  the  second  half 
expounds. 

2.  The  faith  that  appropriates  the  blessing— Jesus  now  takes  me  in  and' gives  me  my  place 
and  my  life  in  the  Father's  presence,  is  but  a  beginning.  Faith  must  now  count  upon  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  His  Pentecostal  power,  bringing  down  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  us,  to  make  it  a 
personal  experience.  Until  this  comes,  faith  must  in  patience  wait  till  it  obtains  the  promise, 
in  accordance  with  the  teaching  we  had :  "  Cast  not  away  therefore  your  boldness.  For  ye 
have  need  of  patience,  that,  having  done  the  will  of  God,  ye  may  receive  the  promise." 


Zbc  Ifooliest  of  BU  389 


XC. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  OUR  HOPE. 

X.— 23.  Let  us  hold  fast  the  confession  of  our  hope  that  it  waver  not ;  for 
he  is  faithful  that  promised. 

The  three  chief  words  of  this  injunction  we  have  had  before — 
Hold  fast.  Confession,  Hope.  If  we  hold  fast  the  glorying  of 
our  hope  firm  to  the  end.  Give  diligence  to  the  fulness  of  hope. 
Christ  the  High  Priest  of  our  profession.  Let  us  hold  fast  our 
confession.  A  better  hope,  by  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God. 
We  have  now  been  brought  to  see  what  Christian  perfection  is, 
in  that  perfect  life  in  God's  presence  to  which  Jesus  brings  us 
in  :  here,  more  than  ever,  we  shall  need  to  hold  fast  our  hope. 

Faith  and  hope  ever  go  together.  ^^  Faith  is  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for."  Faith  accepts  the  promise  in  its  divine  reality, 
hope  goes  forward  to  examine  and  picture  and  rejoice  in  the 
treasures  which  faith  has  accepted.  And  so  here,  on  the  words 
Let  us  draw  near  in  fulness  of  faith,  there  follows  immediately, 
Let  us  hold  fast  the  confession  of  our  hope.  Life  in  the 
Holiest,  in  the  nearness  of  God,  must  be  characterised  by  an 
infinite  hopefulness. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  the  reason  of  this.  Entering  into 
the  Holiest  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  true  Christian  life.  As 
we  tarry  there  God  can  begin  to  do  His  work  of  grace  in  power. 
There  the  holiness  of  God  can  overshadow  us,  and  can  be  assimi- 


S90  ZTbe  toliest  of  BII 


lated  into  our  life  and  character.  There  we  can  learn  to  worship 
in  that  true  humility  and  meekness  and  resignation  to  God's 
will,  which  does  not  come  at  once,  but  in  which  we  may  grow  up 
even  as  Jesus  did.  There  we  have  to  learn  the  holy  art  of 
intercession,  so  as  to  pray  the  prayer  that  prevails.  There  we 
wait  to  receive  in  larger  measure,  in  ever -fresh  communica- 
tion, that  fulness  of  the  Spirit  which  comes  and  is  maintained 
only  by  close  and  living  contact  with  Jesus  on  the  throne. 
The  entrance  into  the  Holiest  is  only  a  beginning.  It  is 
to  be  a  life  in  which  we  every  hour  receive  everything  from 
God,  in  which  God's  working  is  to  be  all  in  all.  Here,  if  any- 
where, we  have  need  of  an  infinite  hopefulness.  After  we  have 
entered  in,  we  shall  very  probably  not  find  what  we  expected. 
The  light  and  the  joy  and  the  power  may  not  come  at  once. 
Within  the  veil  it  is  still,  nay  rather  it  is  eminently,  a  life  of  faith, 
not  looking  to  ourselves,  but  to  God,  and  hoping  in  Him.  Faith 
will  still  be  tried,  will  perhaps  most  be  tried  when  God  wants 
most  to  bless.  Hope  is  the  daughter  of  faith,  the  messenger  it 
sends  out  to  see  what  is  to  come  :  it  is  hope  that  becomes  the 
strength  and  support  of  faith. 

Let  us  hold  fast  the  confession  of  our  hope.  Men  always 
speak  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  of  that  which  they  hope 
for.  We,  too,  must  confess  and  give  expression  to  our  hope. 
The  confession  strengthens  the  hope ;  what  we  utter  becomes 
clearer  and  more  real  to  us.  It  glorifies  God.  It  helps  and 
encourages  those  around  us.  It  makes  God,  and  men,  and 
ourselves,  see  that  we  are  committed  to  it.  Let  us  hold  fast  the 
confession  of  our  hope,  that  it  waver  not.  Let  the  better  hope 
by  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God,  by  which  we  enter  within  the 
veil,  be  the  one  thing  we  hold  fast  and  confess  with  a  confidence 
that  never  wavers. 


trbe  IboUest  of  BU  391 


For  He  is  faithful  that  promised.  Study  the  references  on 
the  word  "  promise  "  in  this  Epistle,  and  see  what  a  large  place 
they  take  in  God's  dealings  with  His  people,  and  learn  how 
much  your  life  depends  on  your  relation  to  the  promises. 
Connect  the  promises,  as  is  here  done,  with  the  promiser  ;  con- 
nect the  promiser  with  His  unchanging  faithfulness  as  God,  and 
your  hope  will  become  a  glorying  in  God,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.  Faithful  is  He  that  promised :  that  word  lies  at  the 
root  of  the  life  within  the  veil.  Just  as  it  is  God  who  speaks  in 
Christ,  who  sent  Him,  who  appointed  Him  Priest,  who  perfected 
Him,  so  it  is  God  to  whom  Christ  brings  us  into  the  Holiest,  for 
Him  now  to  work  directly  and  continually  in  us  that  life  in 
which,  as  His  redeemed  creatures,  we  are  to  live.  This  is  the 
blessedness  of  being  brought  into  the  Holiest :  Christ  has 
brought  us  to  God.  And  we  are  now  in  the  right  place  and 
spirit  for  honouring  Him  as  God — that  is,  for  allowing  Him  to 
work  freely,  immediately,  unceasingly  in  us  such  a  life  as  He 
wrought  in  Christ.  He  is  faithful  that  promised.  God  is  going 
to  fulfil  His  promises  of  life  and  love,  of  blessing  and  fruitful- 
ness,  in  a  way  we  have  no  conception  of.  Let  US  hold  fast  the 
confession  of  our  hope,  for  He  is  faithful  that  promised. 

My  reader,  thou  hast  heard  the  call.  Let  US  draw  near  in 
fulness  of  faith.  And  hast  obeyed  ?  And  hast  believed  that 
Jesus  takes  thee  into  a  life  of  abiding  in  God's  presence?  And 
art,  even  amid  the  absence  of  feeling  or  experience,  even  amid 
the  doubts  and  fears  that  threaten  to  press  in,  holding  fast  the 
confession  of  thy  hope? — Listen,  look  up— He  is  faithful  that 
promised !  Let  this  be  thy  rock.  Say  continually — O  my  soul^ 
hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him.  Thou  art  my  hope, 
O  God !  I  will  hope  continually,  and  praise  Thee  yet  more  and 
more.     This   is  the  blessing  of  the  inner  sanctuary,  that  thou 


392  Ubc  ijoHest  of  All 


hast  found  thy  true  place  at  God's  feet,  there  to  wait  in  absolute 
dependence  and  helplessness  on  His  working.  Look  up  in  the 
boldness  the  blood  gives  thee.  Look  up  with  a  true  heart,  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells  and  works.  Look  up  with  a  heart 
sprinkled  by  thy  blessed  High  Priest  with  the  blood — and  hope, 
yes  hope,  in  God  to  do  His  divine  work  in  thy  soul.  Let  Him 
be  to  thee  more  than  ever  the  God  of  hope.  Claim  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise  of  His  word  :  T/ie  God  of  Jiopc  fill  you 
with  all  Joy  atid  peace  in  believing,  that  ye  may  abound  in 
hope,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  infinite  faithful  God, 
as  the  God  of  our  hope,  filling  us  with  joy  and  peace  in  believing, 
and  we  learning  to  abound  in  hope  through  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost :  Be  this  our  life  in  the  secret  of  God's  pre.sence ! 

7.  Fulness  of  faith  and  fulness  of  hope  are  two  dispositions  that  marh  the  true  heart.  It  is 
because  we  arc  to  have  nothing  in  ourselves,  and  God  is  to  be  all  and  to  do  all,  that  our  whole 
attitude  is  to  be  loohing  up  to  Him,  expecting  and  receiving  what  He  is  to  do. 

2.  That  ye  may  abound  in  hope,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  See  how  the  life 
of  hope  in  the  Holiest  depends  entirely  upon  the  Holy  Spirit  dwelling  within  us.  To  Hue  this  Ufa, 
we  need  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  Not  a  moment  can  we  dwell  in  the  Holiest,  but  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Not  a  moment  but  wc  can  dwell  in  the  Holiest,  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let  us  abound  in  hope, 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


Zbe  1boliC6t  of  Bll  393 


XCI. 

LOVE  AND  GOOD  WORKS. 

X.— 24.  And  let  us  consider  one  another,  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good 
works. 

We  have  had  the /u/ness  offaitJi  in  which  we  are  to  draw  nigh, 
and  the  confession  of  hope  we  are  to  hold  fast,  now  follows  the 
third  of  the  sister  graces  :  Let  us  consider  one  another — let  us 
prove  our  love  and  care  for  each  other  in  the  effort — to  provoke 
unto  love  and  good  works.  These  three  thoughts  form  the  sub- 
division of  the  practical  part  of  the  Epistle.  Chap.  xi.  may  well 
be  headed,  TJie  fulness  of  faith  ;  chap.  xii.  1-14,  T lie  patience  of 
hope;  and  chap,  xiii.,  Love  and  good  ivorks. 

And  let  us  consider  one  another.  He  that  enters  into  the 
Holiest  enters  into  the  home  of  eternal  love  ;  the  air  he  breathes 
there  is  love  ;  the  highest  blessing  he  can  receive  there  is  a 
heart  in  which  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  power  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  which  is  on  the  path  to  be  made  perfect  in 
love.  That  thou  mayest  know  how  thou  onglitest  to  behave  thyself 
in  the  house  of  God — remember  this,  Faith  and  hope  shall  pass 
away,  but  love  abideth  ever.     The  chief  of  these  is  love. 

Let  us  consider  one  another.  When  first  we  seek  the  entrance 
into  the  Holiest,  the  thought  is  mostly  of  ourselves.  And  when 
we  have  entered  in  in  faith,  it  is  as  if  it  is  all  we  can  do  to  stand 
before  God,  and  wait  on  Him  for  what  He  has  promised  to  do 
for  us.     But  it  is  not  long  before  we  perceive  that  the  Holiest 


394  zbe  f)0lle6t  ot  ail 


and  the  Lamb  are  not  for  us  alone  ;  that  there  are  others  within 
with  whom  it  is  blessed  to  have  fellowship  in  praising  God ;  that 
there  are  some  without  who  need  our  help  to  be  brought  in.  It 
is  into  the  love  of  God  that  we  have  had  access  given  us  ;  that 
love  enters  our  hearts ;  and  wc  sec  ourselves  called  to  live  like 
Christ  in  entire  devotion  to  those  around  us. 

Let  us  consider  one  another.  All  the  redeemed  form  one  body. 
Each  one  is  dependent  on  the  other,  each  one  is  for  the  welfare  of 
the  other.  Let  us  beware  of  the  self-deception  that  thinks  it  pos- 
sible to  enter  the  Holiest,  into  the  nearest  intercourse  with  God,  in 
the  spirit  of  selfishness.  It  cannot  be.  The  new  and  living  way 
Jesus  opened  up  is  the  way  of  self-sacrificing  love.  The  entrance 
into  the  Holiest  is  given  to  us  as  priests,  there  to  be  filled  with 
the  Spirit  and  the  love  of  Christ,  and  to  go  out  and  bring  God's 
blessing  to  others. 

Let  us  consider  one  another.  The  same  Spirit  that  said. 
Consider  Christ  Jesus — take  time,  and  give  attention  to  know 
Him  well— says  to  us,  Consider  one  another— take  time,  and 
give  attention  to  know  the  needs  of  your  brethren  around  you. 
How  many  are  there  whose  circumstances  are  so  unfavourable, 
whose  knowledge  is  so  limited,  whose  whole  life  is  so  hopeless, 
that  there  is  but  little  prospect  of  their  ever  attaining  the  better  life. 
For  them  there  is  but  one  thing  to  be  done :  JVe  that  are  strong 
ougJit  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please  our- 
selves. Each  one  who  begins  to  see  what  the  blessedness  is  of 
a  life  in  the  full  surrender  to  Christ  should  offer  himself  to 
Christ,  to  be  made  His  messenger  to  the  feeble  and  the  weary. 

Consider  one  another,  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good 
works.  Love  and  good  works :  These  are  to  be  the  aim  of 
the  Church  in  the  exercise  of  its  fellowship.  Everything  that 
can  hinder  love  is  to  be  sacrificed  and  set  aside.     Everything 


XLU  IbOliCSt  Ot  Bll  395 


that  can  promote,  and  prove,  and  provoke  others  to,  love  is  to 
be  studied  and  performed. 

And  with  love  good  works  too.  The  Church  has  been  re- 
deemed by  Christ,  to  prove  to  the  world  what  power  He  has  to 
cleanse  from  sin,  to  conquer  evil,  to  restore  to  holiness  and  to 
goodness.  Let  us  consider  one  another,  in  every  possible  way, 
to  provoke,  to  stir  up,  to  help  to  love  and  good  works. 

The  chief  thought  is  this  :  Life  in  the  Holiest  must  be  a  life 
of  love.  As  earnest  as  the  injunction.  Let  tis  draw  nigh  in 
fulness  of  faith.  Let  21s  hold  fast  the  confession  of  our  hope,  is 
this,  Let  us  cottsider  otte  another  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good 
works.  God  is  love.  And  all  He  has  done  for  us  in  His  Son, 
as  revealed  in  this  Epistle,  is  love.  And  Christ  is  love.  And 
there  can  be  no  real  access  to  God  as  a  union  with  Him  in  His 
holy  will,  no  real  communion  with  Him,  but  in  the  Spirit  of  love. 
Our  entering  into  the  Holiest  is  mere  imagination,  if  we  do 
not  yield  ourselves  to  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  to  be  filled 
and  used  for  the  welfare  and  joy  of  our  fellow-men. 

O  Christian  !  study  what  love  is.  Study  it  in  the  word,  in 
Christ,  in  God.  As  thou  seest  Him  to  be  an  ever-flowing  foun- 
tain of  all  goodness,  who  has  His  very  being  and  glory  in  this, 
that  He  lives  in  all  that  exists,  and  communicates  to  all  His  own 
blessedness  and  perfection  as  far  as  they  are  capable  of  it,  thou 
wilt  learn  to  acknowledge  that  he  that  loveth  not  hath  not  known 
God.  And  thou  wilt  learn,  too,  to  admit  more  deeply  and  truly 
than  ever  before,  that  no  effort  of  thy  will  can  bring  forth  love ; 
it  must  be  given  thee  from  above.  This  will  become  to  thee 
one  of  the  chief  joys  and  beauties  of  the  Holiest  of  All,  that  there 
thou  canst  wait  on  the  God  of  love  to  fill  thee  with  His  love. 
God  hath  the  power  to  shed  abroad  His  love  in  our  hearts,  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  given  unto  us.     He  has  promised  to  give  Christ, 


396  XLbe  fboUcet  of  ail 


so  dwelling  in  our  heart  by  faith,  that  we  shall  be  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  and  know  and  have  in  us  something  of  a  love 
that  passeth  knowledge.  The  very  atmosphere  of  the  Holiest  is 
love.  Just  as  I  breathe  in  the  air  in  which  I  live,  so  the  soul 
that  abides  in  the  presence  of  God  breathes  the  air  of  the  upper 
world.  The  promise  held  out  to  us,  and  the  hour  of  its  fulfil- 
ment, will  come,  when  the  love  of  God  will  be  perfected  in  us, 
and  we  are  made  perfect  in  love.  Nowhere  can  this  be  but  in 
the  Holiest ;  but  there  most  surely.  Let  us  draw  nigh  in  the 
fulness  of  faith,  and  consider  one  another.  While  we  arc  only 
thinking  of  others  to  bring  God's  love  to  them,  we  shall  find 
God  thinking  of  us,  and  filling  us  with  it. 

7.  It  is  the  very  essence,  the  beauty,  and  the  glory  of  the  saluation  of  Christ,  that  it  is  for  all. 
He  that  truly  receiues  it,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  it,  receives  it  as  a  saluation  for  all,  and  feels 
himself  impelled  to  communicate  it  to  others.  The  baptism  of  fire  is  a  baptism  of  redeeming  love, 
but  that  not  as  a  mere  emotion,  but  a  power  at  once  to  consider  and  to  care  for  others. 

2.  How  impossible  to  love  others  and  give  all  for  them  in  our  strength  !  This  is  one  of  the  real 
gifts  to  be  waited  for  in  the  Holiest  of  all,  to  be  received  in  the  power  of  the  pentecostal  Spirit— the 
love  of  God  so  shed  abroad  in  the  heart,  that  we  spontaneously,  unceasingly,  joyfully  love,  because 
it  is  our  very  nature. 


Zbc  IboUcst  of  mi  397 


XCII. 

THE  ASSEMBLING  TOGETHER. 

X.— 25.  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  oitrselves  together,  as  the  custom 
of  some  is,  but  exhorting  one  another ;  and  so  much  the  more,  as  ye  see  the 
day  drawing  nigh. 

The  inward  and  the  outward  must  ever  go  together.  As  there 
is  in  every  man  a  hidden  inner  life  of  the  soul,  along  with  the 
outer  life  of  the  body,  so  too  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  All  its 
members  are  one  body  ;  the  inward  unity  must  be  proved  in 
active  exercise,  it  must  be  seen  in  the  assembling  together.  The 
assembling  of  His  saints  has  its  ground  in  a  divine  appointment 
as  well  as  in  the  very  nature  of  things  ;  all  who  have  entered 
into  the  Holiest  to  meet  their  God  must  turn  to  the  meeting  of 
His  people.  The  tabernacle  of  old  was  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  to 
meet  God  and  to  meet  our  fellow-men  are  equally  needful. 
Among  the  Hebrews  it  was  already  the  custom  with  some  to 
forsake  the  assembling  together  ;  it  was  one  of  the  dangerous 
symptoms  of  backsliding.  They  are  reminded,  not  only  of  the 
personal  duty  of  each  to  be  faithful,  but  also  to  care  for  others, 
and  to  exhort  one  another.  For  exercise  and  strengthening  of 
the  faith  and  hope  and  love,  to  which  we  have  just  been  urged  ; 
for  the  full  development  of  the  life  in  the  Holiest  of  All ;  for  the 
helping  and  comforting  of  all  who  are  feeble  ;  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  fellowship  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Word — the  assembling  of 
ourselves  together  has  unspeakable  value.     Let  us  listen  to  the 


398  XTbe  DoUcst  of  BlI 


exhortation,  in  connection  with  our  entrance  into  the  Holiest. 
Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together,  as  the 
custom  of  some  is. 

If  we  would  rightly  apprehend  the  import  of  this  word  let  us 

not  forget  the  link  to  its  context.     Our  section  has  been  teaching 

■  us  what  life  in  the  Holiest  is  to  be.     As  those  who  have  drawn 

\near  to  God  we  are  to  draw  near  to  our  fellow-men.     Meeting 

\God   is  a  thing  of  infinite  blessedness  and  peace  and  power. 

Meeting  our  fellow-men  is  often  accompanied  with  so  much  of 

weakness,  distraction,  and    failure  that  some  have  thought  it 

indeed  better  to  forsake  the  assembling  together.     Let  us  see 

flow  life  in  the  Holiest  of  All  points  to  both  the  duty  and  the 

power  of  our  assemblies. 

It  suggests  the  duty.  The  Holiest  of  All  is  the  home  of 
eternal  love.  It  is  love  dwells  there.  It  is  love  that  came  forth 
from  there  to  seek  me  and  bring  me  in.  It  is  into  the  everlast- 
ing love  I  have  been  welcomed  and  taken  in.  It  is  love  that  has 
been  shed  abroad  in  my  heart.  My  entrance  in  was  only  in  the 
path  of  self-sacrifice  ;  my  abiding  there  can  only  be  as  one  dead 
to  self  and  filled  with  love.  And  love  seeketh  not  its  own  ;  it 
gives  itself  away,  and  only  lives  to  make  others  partakers  of  its 
happiness.  And  it  loves  the  assembly  of  God's  people,  not  only 
for  what  it  needs  and  hopes  to  receive,  but  for  the  communion 
of  saints,  and  the  help  it  can  give  in  helping  and  encouraging 
others. 

It  not  only  does  this,  but  obeys  the  added  injunction — 
Exhorting  one  another.  It  seeks  to  watch  over  those  who  are 
in  danger  of  becoming  unfaithful.  It  cares  for  those  who  have 
grown  careless  in  their  neglect.  True  love  is  quick  of  invention  ; 
it  devises  means  for  making  smaller  or  nearer  or  more  attractive 
assemblies  forthosewho  have  become  estranged.  It  counts  nothing 


Cbe  Iboliest  of  BU  899 


too  humble  or  too  difficult  if  it  may  but  win  back  to  the  gather- 
ing of  God's  children  those  who  may  there  be  blessed  and  saved. 
It  lives  in  the  Holiest  of  God's  love  ;  it  gives  itself  up  to  the  one 
work  of  winning  others  to  know  that  love. 

The  life  in  the  Holiest  is  thus  not  only  the  motive  but  the 
power  for  doing  the  work  aright.  Yes,  it  is  as  those  who  profess 
to  have  entered  the  Holiest  of  All  truly  draw  near  to  God,  and 
prove  the  power  of  fellowship  with  Him,  that  they  will  have 
power  in  prayer  and  speech  and  service  among  their  fellow- 
Christians.  The  Holiest  of  All  is  the  place  for  daily  worship 
and  consecration  and  intercession  ;  even  a  little  band  in  the 
assembly  will  have  power  to  make  the  divine  presence  felt. 
The  worship  in  the  place  of  prayer  may  become  so  linked  to 
the  secret  worship  of  the  Holiest  of  All  that  its  blessing  may 
come  to  those  who  have  never  known  of  it.  God  is  willing  so  to 
bless  the  fellowship  of  His  redeemed  that  the  assembly  shall  be 
crowned  with  a  fuller  sense  of  His  love  and  presence  than  ever 
can  be  found  in  the  solitary  approach  to  Him.  Wherefore, 
brethren,  having  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holiest,  let  us  draw- 
near;  not  forsaking  the  assembly  of  ourselves  together,  but 
exhorting  one  another. 

And  so  much  the  more  as  ye  see  the  day  approaching. 
The  writer  has  doubtless  in  view  the  then  approaching  day  of 
judgment  on  Jerusalem.  We  know  not  in  how  far  the  per- 
spective of  prophecy  was  clearly  revealed,  and  that  day  was  con- 
nected with  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Himself.  It  is  enough  for 
us  to  know  that  the  fear  of  an  approaching  day  of  judgment  was 
the  motive  to  which  appeal  is  made ;  and  that,  not  only  to 
move  the  indifferent,  but  specially  to  urge  the  earnest  to  exhort 
others.  Christians  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  terrible  doom 
hanging  over  the  world,  and  of  all  the  solemn  eternal  realities 


400  Ube  "toolicst  or  BU 


connected  with  our  Lord's  coming  in  their  bearing  upon  our 
daily  Hfe.  So  will  our  efforts  for  helping  and  saving  others  all 
be  under  the  power  of  the  thought  of  how  short  the  time  is,  how 
terrible  the  fate  of  those  who  perish,  and  how  urgent  the  call  for 
everyone  who  knows  redeeming  love  to  do  its  work  with  all  his 
might.  In  the  Holiest  of  All  we  hear  the  voice  of  warning,  and 
come  out  to  save  ere  it  be  too  late. 

1.  Note  the  intensely  practical  character  of  the  gospel.  Our  section  (19-25)  is  only  one  sen- 
tence. It  begins  u/ith  spiritual,  heavenly  mysteries  ;  it  ends  in  the  plainest  rules  for  our  conduct 
to  our  fellow-men.  Let  us  be  sure  that  the  deeper  we  enter  into  the  perfection-teaching  of  chap, 
uii.-x.  the  fitter  we  shall  be  to  be  a  blessing  in  the  world. 

2.  When  Christ  spoke  His  farewell  discourse  to  His  disciples  one  of  the  things  He  pressed 
most  urgently  was  that  they  should  hue  one  another.  He  loves  all  His  redeemed  ones,  howeuer 
feeble  or  peruerse  they  be,  so  intently,  that  He  tells  us  that  we  cannot  prove  our  real  love  to  Him 
in  any  other  way  than  by  loving  them  ;  the  proof  of  a  real  entrance  into  the  Holiest  of  All,  the 
humility  and  gentleness  and  self-sacrifice  with  which  we  speak  and  think  and  prove  our  care  of 
one  another. 

3.  Study  carefully  the  connection  between  these  last  twelve  meditations,  and  see  to  get  a  clear 
hold  of  the  unity  of  thought  in  this  portion,  the  living  centre  of  the  Epistle. 


Zbe  IboUest  of  ail  401 


THE   FOURTH   WARNING. 

Chap.  X.  26-39. 

Of  them  that  sin  wilfully  and  draw  back. 


XCIII. 

OF   WILFUL    SIN. 

X.— 26.  For  if  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  a  sacrifice  for  sins, 

27.  But  a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  judgment,  and  a  fierceness  of  fire 
which  shall  devour  the  adversaries. 

In   mentioning  those  who  forsake  the  assembling  together  of 

God's  people,  the  writer  has  touched  one  of  those  sore  places 

which,  to  him,  are  the  symptom  of  imminent  danger.     This 

neglect  of  Christian  fellowship  is  at  once  the  indication  of  that 

indifference  which  is  so  dangerous,  and  the  cause  of  further 

backsliding.     All  this  leads  him  once  again  to  sound  the  alarm, 

and  to  point  out  how  neglect  of  outward,  apparently  secondary 

duties,  opens  the  way  to  positive  sin  and  eternal  loss.     He  has 

scarcely  finished   his  wondrous  exposition  of  the  glory  of  the 

heavenly  Priest  and  the  heavenly  sanctuary  and  the  way  into  it, 

he  has  only  just  begun  to  speak  of  the  life  and  walk  to  which 
26 


402  XLbe  Iboncst  of  BU 


that  opened  sanctuary  calls  us,  when,  thinking  of  the  state  of 
the  Hebrews,  he  sounds  a  trumpet-blast  of  warning  more  terrible 
than  any  we  have  heard  yet.  In  the  three  previous  warnings  he 
had  spoken  first  of  neglect  (ii.  1-4),  then  of  unbelief  and  dis- 
obedience (iii.  I  ;  iv.  13),  then  of  sloth,  leading  to  hopeless  falling 
.away  (v,  13  ;  vi.  19) :  here  he  now  speaks  of  wilful  sinning,  with 
the  awful  rejection  of  God's  mercy  it  implies,  and  the  sore  and 
certain  punishment  it  will  inevitably  bring.  John  Bunyan,  in 
his  dream,  saw  a  way  leading  from  the  very  gate  of  heaven 
down  to  the  pit.  It  is  not  only  the  Holiest  of  All  that  is  set 
wide  open  for  us ;  the  gate  of  hell  is  opened  wide,  too,  to  receive 
all  who  neglect  or  refuse  to  enter  the  gate  of  mercy  and  of 
heaven.  Let  all  who  believe  that  it  is  indeed  God  who,  by  His 
Spirit  speaks  in  this  word,  listen  with  holy  fear. 

For  if  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  a  sacri- 
fice for  sins.  As  we  had  in  chap.  vi.  mention  of  those  who  were 
once  enlightened,  and  tasted  the  heavenly  gift  and  the  good 
word  of  God,  and  who  yet  fell  away,  so  here  he  speaks  of 
those  who,  after  having  received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
yet  sin  wilfully.  The  expressions  used  show  us  that  in  the  case 
of  these  the  enlightening  and  the  acceptance  of  the  truth  had 
been  more  with  the  mind  than  with  the  heart.  Their  judgment 
had  been  convinced,  through  the  mind  their  desire  and  will  had 
been  affected  and  wrought  upon  ;  and  yet,  the  heart,  the  whole 
inner  life,  had  never  been  truly  regenerate,  had  never  received 
that  eternal  life,  which  cannot  be  taken  away.  And  so  there 
was  a  possibility  of  their  still  sinning  wilfully  and  being  shut  out 
for  ever  from  the  one  sacrifice  for  sin.  As  we  saw  before,  the 
true  assurance  of  salvation,  the  assuring  of  our  hearts  before  God. 
can  only  he  enjoyed  in  a  life  under  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit, 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  au  403 


and  a  walk  in  obedience  to  God's  will  (i  John  iii.  19-24.)  True 
assurance  of  faith  is  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  is  given 
in  living  fellowship  with  and  obedience  to  Christ  as  Leader. 

If  we  sin  wilfully.  The  question  will  be  asked,  But  what  is 
wilful  sin  ?  How  are  we  to  know  when  we  are  guilty  of  it  ? 
No  answer  can  be  given  ;  no  one  on  earth  can  draw  the  line 
between  what  is  and  what  is  not  wilful  sin.  Only  He  who  sits 
on  the  throne,  and  who  knows  the  heart,  can  judge.  But  how 
will  this  warning  profit,  if  we  cannot  see  what  wilful  sin  is?  The 
warning  will  just  thus  profit  us  most — it  will  make  us  fearful  of 
committing  any  sin,  lest  it  might  be,  or  lead  us  into  wilful  sin. 
He  that  would  know  what  wilful  sin  is,  with  the  thought  that  he 
is  safe,  as  long  as  he  keeps  from  that  extreme,  deceives  himself. 
T/ie  only  sure  ivay  of  being-  kept  from  ■wilful  sin  is  to  keep  far 
from  all  sin. 

A  captain  of  a  ship,  sailing  between  two  harbours  on  a  rocky 
coast,  was  once  asked  by  an  anxious  passenger  if  the  coast  was 
not  very  dangerous.  The  answer  was,  Very.  And  was  he  not 
afraid  ? — No  ;  our  way  is  perfectly  safe ;  you  can  be  at  ease. 
But  how,  if  the  rocks  are  so  dangerous  ?  Oh,  very  simply  ! — I 
put  out  to  sea,  and  keep  far  from  the  rocks.  O  Christian  !  here  is 
thy  only  safety  :  launch  out  into  the  deep  of  full  obedience  to  all 
the  will  of  God  ;  keep  far  from  all  sin,  and  thou  shalt  be  kept 
from  wilful  sinning. 

For  if  we  sin  wilfully,  there  remaineth  no  more  a  sacrifice 
for  sins.  What  a  terrible  contrast  to  the  same  expression  as  we 
had  it  before  (x.  18) :  No  more  offering  for  sin.  There  it  was 
the  blessed  secret  of  the  glory  of  the  gospel  and  redemption,  the 
joy  of  Christian  faith  and  life — no  more  offering  for  sin :  salva- 
tion finished  and  perfected  for  ever.  Here  it  is  the  awful  revela- 
tion of  the  highest  sin  and  its  terrible  doom :  the  one  sacrifice 


404  XLbe  Dolicdt  of  Bll 


rejected,  and  now  no  more  a  sacrifice  for  sins  ever  to  be  found. 
How  awful  to  sin  wilfully. 

There  remaineth  no  more  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  certain 
fearful  expectation  of  judgment,  and  a  fierceness  of  fire,  which 
shall  devour  the  adversaries.  Fearful  judgment,  fierceness  of 
fire,  devouring  the  adversaries, — these  words  are  in  God's  gospel ; 
they  follow  close  on  its  highest  teaching  ;  they  are  words  He 
speaks  to  us  in  His  Son.  In  the  religion  of  the  world — alas,  in 
a  great  deal  of  the  Christian  teaching  and  the  religious  literature 
of  our  day,  professing  to  honour  the  God  of  love  whom  the 
Bible  reveals — these  words  arc  set  aside  and  rejected.  And  yet 
there  they  stand,  and  behind  them  stand  the  divine  realities  they 
express.  God  help  us  to  believe  them  with  our  whole  heart,  and 
to  exhort  one  another,  if  so  be  we  may  save  some,  snatching 
them  out  of  the  fire  ! 

1.  Let  all  who  have  entered  the  Holiest  of  All  turn  round  and  ook  to  the  hole  of  the  pit- the 
horrible  pit- -whence  they  haue  been  drawn  up.  And  as  they  see  the  multitudes  going  down  to 
the  pit,  oh  let  them  remember  that  the  highest  glory  of  life  in  the  Holiest  is,  even  as  it  is  of  Him 
who  opened  it  with  His  blood  and  sits  on  the  throne,  to  go  out  and  bring  others  in. 

2.  Even  though  thou  knewest,  through  grace,  that  thou  hadst  escaped  the  judgment  and  the 
fire,  take  time  to  gaze  upon  them.  Take  upon  thee  the  burden  of  those  who  are  asleep,  and  plead 
with  Christ  to  use  thee  to  warn  and  to  save  them. 


^bc  fboliest  of  Bll  405 


XCIV. 

THE  SIN  AGAINST  THE  TRIUNE  GOD. 

X.— 28.  A  man  that  hath  set  at  nought  Moses'  law  dieth  without  compas- 
sion on  the  word  of  two  or  three  witnesses : 

29.  Of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy, 
who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of 
the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done 
despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ? 

30.  For  we  know  him  that  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  I  will  re- 
compense.   And  again,  The  Lord  shall  judge  his  people. 

31.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God. 

The  Epistle  has  set  before  us  the  more  excellent  glory  of  the 
New  Testament.  We  can  draw  near  to  God  as  Israel  never 
could ;  God  hath  indeed  made  His  grace  to  abound  more 
exceedingly.  But  let  no  one  think  that  greater  grace  means 
less  stringency  with  sin,  or  less  fierceness  of  the  fire  of  judgment. 
Nay,  the  very  opposite.  Greater  privilege  brings  greater  responsi- 
bility, and,  in  case  of  failure,  greater  judgment.  As  elsewhere 
(ii.  2  ;  xii.  25)  we  are  reminded  that  the  New  Testament  exceeds 
the  Old  not  only  in  its  blessing  but  also  in  its  curse.  As  he  had 
asked  "  How  much  more  will  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanse  ?  "  so 
here  he  asks,  "  How  much  more  sore  will  the  punishment  be  ?  " 
Oh  that  men  would  believe  it ;  the  New  Testament,  with  its 
revelation  of  God  as  love,  brings  on  its  rejectors  a  far  more  fear- 
ful judgment  than  the  Old.  May  God  in  mercy  show  us  what 
it  means,  for  our  own  sakes  and  that  of  others. 

A  man  that  hath  set  at  nought  Moses'  law  dieth  without 


106  Cbe  Iboliest  of  ail 

compassion — note  this  terrible  word,  without  compassion :  of 
how  much  sorer  punishment,  think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged 
worthy,  who  sins  against  New  Testament  grace  ?  The  measure 
of  the  superior  greatness  of  tlie  New  Testament  will  be  the  only 
measure  of  the  greater  fearfulness  of  the  punishment  sent ;  as  in 
the  first  warning  tlie  greatness  of  salvation  was  connected  with 
the  part  eacli  person  in  the  Holy  Trinity  had  taken  in  it,  so  here 
too.  The  h\ither  gave  His  Son  :  of  how  much  sorer  punish- 
ment shall  he  be  counted  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under 
foot  the  Son  of  God.  The  Son  gave  His  blood  :  here  is  one 
who  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he 
was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing.  The  leather  ami  the  Son  gave 
the  Spirit:  he  hath  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  griice.  Under 
Moses'  law  a  man  died  without  compassion :  how  much  sorer 
punishment,  without  compassion,  shall  be  the  fate  of  them  that 
reject  Christ.     Hear  what  all  this  means. 

Who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God !  There  was 
once  an  aged  father,  who  had  often  pleaded  in  vain  with  a  dissi- 
pated son  to  forsake  his  evil  ways.  One  night,  as  the  son  was 
preparing  again  to  go  out,  the  father  after  renewing  his 
entreaties,  went  and  stood  in  the  door,  saying,  "  My  son,  I 
cannot  let  you  go — if  you  do,  it  will  be  over  my  body."  The 
son  tried  to  push  the  father  aside.  The  old  man  fell,  and  in 
rushing  out  he  trod  on  the  father !  Jesus  Christ,  God's  Son, 
comes  and  stands  in  the  sinner's  way,  pleading  with  him  to 
turn  from  his  evil  way.  He  casts  Himself  in  the  way,  with  His 
wounded,  bleeding  body.  And  the  sinner,  not  heeding  what  he 
does,  passes  over  it :  he  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God ! 
What  a  sin  again-^t  the  l-"alhcr  and  ihc  lo\'c  that  ga\'c  the  Son  ! 

And  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he 
was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing.     The  Father  gave  the  Son. 


XLbc  Iboliest  of  mi  407 


And  the  Son  gave  His  blood — the  blood  of  the  covenant, 
securing  and  conveying  to  us  all  its  wondrous  privileges — the 
blood  with  which  he  was  sanctified,  admitted  to  the  Holiest  of 
All  and  the  Holy  One,  he  hath  counted  an  unholy  thingf. 
When  I  come  to  water  in  which  I  wish  to  wash,  and  find  it 
impure,  I  reject  it ;  I  throw  it  out.  Christ  calls  the  sinner  to 
wash  in  His  blood  and  be  clean.  He  rejects  it  as  an  unclean 
thing.  Yes,  the  blood  that  speaks  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  and 
remission  of  sins,  and  the  opened  heaven,  is  rejected  and  cast 
aside!  Oh,  what  sin!  If  the  rejectors  of  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  goats  died  without  compassion,  how  much  more  —  the 
despisers  of  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  ! 

And  hath  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace !  I  can  put 
no  greater  affront  on  my  king,  or  my  father,  than  by  shutting 
my  door  in  his  face.  If  they  come  to  me  with  a  message  or  a 
gift  of  love  in  my  wretchedness,  to  turn  them  away  is  to  do 
them  despite.  The  Spirit  comes  as  the  Spirit  of  grace,  to  con- 
vince of  sin  and  stir  to  prayer  and  lead  to  Jesus.  To  close  the 
door,  to  refuse  surrender,  to  open  the  heart  to  the  spirit  of  the 
world  instead  of  Him,  is  to  do  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace  ! 
The  Son  trodden  under  foot,  the  blood  counted  unclean,  the 
Spirit  of  grace  despised  and  rejected, — alas,  what  terrible  sin  ! 

For  such  there  remaineth  no  more  a  sacrifice  for  sins ! 
And  such  are  the)-  among  us  and  around  us  who  reject  the 
Christ  of  God  !  And  such  their  fate !  For  we  know  Him 
that  said,  Veng-eance  belongeth  unto  Me,  I  will  recompense. 
And  again,  the  Lord  shall  judge  His  people.— For  we  know 
Him  !  How  many  there  are  who  profess  to  believe  in  Scripture, 
and  to  worship  God,  but  who  do  not  know  this  God.  They 
have  framed  to  themselves  a  God,  after  their  own  instincts  and 
imagination  ;    they   believe    not    in    the    Holy    One    in    whom 


408  XLbc  Ibolicst  of  Hll 


righteousness  and  love  meet  in  perfect  harmony.  They  refuse 
to  say,  We  know  Him  that  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto 
Me,  I  will  recompense.  Oh,  let  us  seek  so  to  know  Him, 
that  our  hearts  ma}'  be  filled  with  compassion  for  all  who  are 
still  exposed  to  this  fearful  vengeance.  For  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  Let  us  think 
in  love  on  all  who  are  still  exposed  to  this  judgment,  until 
it  stir  us  to  thanksgiving  for  our  own  redemption,  to  an  infinite 
compassion  for  all  who  are  in  danger,  to  new  fervency  of 
prayer  for  their  salvation,  and  to  a  consecration  of  ourselves 
to  the  one  work  of  warning  them  of  their  danger  and  leading 
them  to  Christ. 

1.  In  accepting  God's  word  let  us  remember  that  as  little  as  we  could  have  devised  or  under- 
stood the  glorious  redemption  in  Christ,  such  as  God's  love  has  provided,  without  a  divine  revela- 
tion, can  we  arrange  for  or  understand  a  judgment  day  such  as  God's  righteousness  requires. 
The  one  is  a  mystery  of  love  and  the  other  a  mystery  of  wrath,  beyond  all  we  can  think  or  know. 

2.  It  was  to  meet  the  Judgment  and  the  wrath  of  God  Christ's  blood  was  needed.  The  blood 
stands  midway  between  the  judgment  threatened  and  the  Judgment  yet  to  be  poured  out.  As  we 
believe  in  the  judgment  we  shall  honour  the  blood;  as  we  believe  in  the  blood  we  shall  fear  the 
Judgment. 


Cbe  •(F30llest  of  ail  409 


XCV. 

THE  FORMER  DAYS. 

X.— 32.  But  call  to  remembrance  the  former  days  in  which,  after  ye  were 
enlightened,  ye  endiired  a  great  conflict  of  sufferings ; 

33.  Partly,  being  made  a  gazing-stock  both  by  reproaches  and  afflictions  ; 
and  partly,  becoming  partakers  with  them  that  were  so  used. 

34.  For  ye  both  had  compassion  on  them  that  were  in  bonds,  and  took 
joyfully  the  spoiling  of  your  possessions,  knowing  that  ye  yourselves  have  a 
better  possession  and  an  abiding  one. 

The  solemn  warning  now,  just  as  was  the  case  in  chap.  vi.  (ver. 
9),  turns  to  encouragement  and  exhortation.  As  there,  the 
Hebrews  are  reminded  of  the  former  days,  when  they  were  first 
enh"ghtened — the  time  of  their  first  love.  But,  in  the  previous 
instance,  they  were  told  that  God  was  not  unrighteous  to  forget 
their  work  and  love ;  here  they  are  urged  themselves  not  to 
forget  what  had  taken  place.  Call  to  remembrance  the  former 
days.  The  retrospect  would  call  up  the  joy  with  which  they 
once  had  sacrificed  all  for  the  name  of  Jesus,  would  humble 
them  in  view  of  past  backsliding  and  present  coldness,  would  stir 
within  the  desire  and  the  hope  of  regaining  the  place  they  once  had 
occupied.  Call  to  remembrance,  he  says,  the  former  days,  in 
which  ye  endured  a  great  conflict  of  sufferings,  in  not  only 
bearing  reproaches  and  taking  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  your 
possessions,  but  also  in  compassion  towards  and  being  par- 
takers with  others  who  were  in  bonds. 

It  is  a  sad  thought  that  a  community  that  had  so  remarkably 


410  Zbc  fjcUcet  of  an 


proved  its  laithfulness  to  the  Lord,  in  the  midst  of  persecution 
;iik1  suffering,  should  in  a  few  years  have  gone  so  far  back  as  to 
need  the  warnings  that  ha\e  just  been  given.  And  yet  it  has 
often  been  so.  In  some  cases  it  happened  that  the  persecution 
ceased,  and  the  spirit  of  ease  and  of  sloth,  or  of  worldly  prosperity, 
obtained  the  mastery.  In  others,  the  persecution  lasted  too  long, 
and  those  who  had  appeared  to  forsake  all,  succumbed  to  the 
severity  and  length  of  the  trial.  The  Hebrews  were  not  only 
an  instance  of  such  defection,  but  of  so  many  other  cases,  in 
which  Christians,  after  having  begun  well,  wax  weary,  fainting 
in  their  souls.  The}'  stand  out  as  beacons  to  warn  us  of  the 
danger  the  Epistle  so  strongly  urges — that  the  best  beginning 
will  not  avail  unless  we  endure  to  the  end  (iii.  14;  vi.  1 1  ;  xii.  3). 
The\-  call  us  to  remember  that  we  need  a  faith  and  a  religion 
that  stands  fast  and  lasts  ;  because  it  has  its  steadfastness,  as  the 
Kjjistle  teaches,  in  the  promise  and  the  oath  of  God  ;  in  the  hope 
within  the  veil  ;  in  Him  the  surety  of  the  covenant,  who  is  seated 
on  the  right  hand  of  God,  the  Priest  after  the  power  of  an  end- 
less life,  the  surety  of  an  everlasting  covenant. 

In  reminding  them  of  the  past  a  very  remarkable  expression 
is  used  to  indicate  what  the  power  was  that  enabled  them  at 
first  to  endure  so  bravely.  Ye  took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of 
your  possessions,  knowing  that  ye  yourselves  have  a  better  and 
abiding  possession.  The  Christian  stands  hctwccn  two  worlds  ; 
each  offers  him  its  goods  as  possessions.  In  unceasing  conflict 
the  two  compete  for  mastery.  The  one  has  the  advantage  of  being 
infinitely  more  worthy  than  the  other — giving  infinite  satisfac- 
tion, and  lasting  for  ever.  The  other  is  in  no  wise  to  be  compared 
with  it — it  cannot  satisfy,  and  it  does  not  last.  But,  in  the  con- 
flict, it  has  two  immense,  two  terrible  advantages.  The  one  is. 
it  is  nearer  ;  it  is  visible ;  it  has  access  to  us  by  every  sense  ;  its 


XLbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll  411 


influence  on  us  is  natural  and  easy  and  unceasing.  The  other, 
that  our  heart  is  prepossessed  ;  the  spirit  of  the  world  is  in  it. 
And  so  it  comes  that  the  possessions  of  this  world  with  the  most 
actually  win  the  day,  even  against  the  better  and  abiding 
possession. 

Ye  took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  your  possessions,  knowing 
that  ye  have  a  better  and  abiding  possession.  What  is  this 
better  and  abiding  possession?  It  is  the  love  and  grace  of  God. 
It  is  the  eternal  life  within.  It  is  Christ  as  our  heart's  treasure. 
It  is  a  life  and  a  character  in  the  likeness  of  Christ.  The  old 
heathen  moralists  teach  us  most  striking  lessons  as  to  the  nobility 
of  a  man  who  knows  that  all  earthly  possessions  are  as  nothing 
compared  with  the  being  master  of  himself.  How  much  more 
reason  the  Christian  has  to  rejoice  in  the  good  things,  in  the 
eternal  realities  which  Christ  bestows,  both  in  the  heaven  above 
and  the  heart  within.  The  world  may  rob  you  of  personal 
liberty  or  earthly  goods  ;  it  cannot  compel  you  to  commit  sin  or 
separate  you  from  the  living  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  Heaven  and 
its  blessing  in  your  heart  can  fill  you  with  a  joy  that  counts 
every  sacrifice  a  privilege,  that  makes  every  loss  a  gain,  and  that 
turns  all  suffering  into  an  exceeding  weight  of  glory. 

Alas  that  the  Hebrews,  after  knowing  this  better  and  abid- 
ing possession,  and  having,  for  its  sake,  joyfully  taken  the 
spoiling  of  their  possessions,  should  yet,  many  of  them,  have 
waxed  weary,  and  fainted  and  turned  back!  Alas  for  the 
terrible  possibility  of  making  sacrifices,  and  enduring  reproach 
for  Christ,  and  then  falling  away  !  No  wonder  that  our  author 
at  once  follows  up  his  appeal  to  the  former  days  with  the 
exhortation :  Cast  not  away  your  boldness— ye  have  need  of 
patience. 

Let  us  learn  the  solemn  lesson :  the  lawful  possessions  and 


412  (Tbe  fKXiedt  of  BU 


pleasures  and  occupations  of  this  world,  its  literature  and  its  cul- 
ture, are  unceasingly  and  most  insidiously  seeking  to  undermine 
the  influence  of  the  better  and  abiding  possession.  This  influence 
is  greater  than  we  know,  because  they  are  seen  and  near  and 
ever  active.  Nothing  can  secure  us  against  their  power  but  a 
life  of  faith,  a  life  in  the  Holiest,  a  life  in  the  power  of  Christ, 
the  Priest  for  ever,  who  works  all  in  the  power  of  the  endless  life. 
Alone  through  Him  who  abideth  continually  can  we  abide  con- 
tinually too,  can  we  endure  unto  the  end. 

7.  //  there  be  any  reader  who  has  to  look  bach  with  shame  and  regret  on  his  first  love,  and  his 
leaving  it,  let  him  listen  to  the  call :  Remember  the  former  days.  Thinh  of  them.  Face  the  fact 
of  your  having  gone  bach.  Confess  it  to  God.  And  tahe  courage  in  the  assurance,  there  is  restora- 
tion and  deliverance.     Trust  Jesus. 

2.  A  better  and  abiding  possession.  A  rich  man  counts  his  money.  He  spends  time  and 
thought  on  preserving  it  safe,  and  mahing  it  more.  Our  power  to  resist  the  world,  so  that  its 
possessions  shall  not  tempt  us,  nor  its  threats  terrify  us,  lies  in  the  full  consciousness  and 
enjoyment  of  our  heavenly  treasures.  Tahe  time  to  hnow  your  possessions,  draw  out  an  inventory 
of  what  i/oti  have  and  what  you  expect,  and  all  the  world  offers  will  have  no  power. 


ZbC  "DOUCSt  Ot  ail  413 


XCVI. 

BOLDNESS  AND  PATIENCE. 

X.— 35.  Cast  not  away  therefore  your  boldness,  which  hath  great  recom- 
pense of  reward. 

35.  For  ye  have  need  of  patience,  that,  having  done  the  will  of  God,  ye 
may  receive  the  promise. 

We  know  how  often  we  have  had  the  word  boldness  in  our 
Epistle.  If  we  hold  fast  our  boldness  (iii.  6) ;  Let  us  draw 
near  with  boldness  to  the  throne  of  grace  (iv.  i6) ;  Having 
boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holiest  through  the  blood  of  Jesus 

(x.  19).  The  boldness  and  confidence  toward  God  is  one  of 
the  strongest  roots  of  the  Christian  life.  Without  it  there  is  no 
strength  to  persevere,  no  power  to  draw  nigh  to  the  throne  of 
grace  in  prayer,  no  liberty  to  enter  into  the  full  fellowship  of 
God  in  the  Holiest.  And  so  the  Hebrews  are  urged  not  to  cast 
away  their  boldness,  because  it  has  great  recompense  of  reward. 
In  the  vigour  and  joy  of  the  Christian  life,  in  the  bright  and 
joyous  fellowship  with  God,  in  the  courage  for  meeting  the 
battle  with  the  world  and  sin,  the  reward  of  boldness  is  great. 

Cast  not  away  your  boldness.  When  I  have  my  hands 
filled,  and  something  more  tempting  is  offered,  I  may  either 
directly  cast  away  what  I  have,  or,  by  trying  to  take  the  new 
object  into  hands  already  full,  may  gradually  lose  hold  of  what 
I  first  held  fast.  Casting  away  our  boldness  always  has  its 
cause  in  something  else  that  we  allow  to  take  its  place  in  the 


414  (Tbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


heart.  It  may  be  sin,  whether  only  risin<^  in  the  heart  or 
breaking  out  into  act,  if  it  be  not  immediately  confessed  and 
cleansed  away.  It  may  be  something  in  itself  lawful,  but  which 
is  allowed  too  large  a  share  in  our  interest  or  affections.  It  may 
be  something  doubtful,  so  insignificant  that  it  hardly  appears 
worth  considering,  and  yet  which  somehow  robs  us  of  perfect 
liberty  in  looking  up  into  God's  face.  It  may  be  care  or  fear,  it 
may  be  self-effort,  or  self-seeking,  self-trust  ;  anything  that  is  not 
in  the  perfect  will  of  God  loosens  our  hold  on  the  boldness 
before  God,  and,  ere  we  know,  we  have  cast  it  away :  it  is  lost. 

But  we  must  not  only  know  how  we  lose  it ;  we  want  as 
much  to  know  how  to  keep  and  increase  it.  The  texts  we 
quoted  tell  us.  Among  the  foundation  truths  we  had  it :  We 
have  a  High  Priest  able  to  sympathise,  let  us  come  with 
boldness.  And  in  the  fuller  teaching  it  came  again  :  Having 
boldness  to  enter  through  the  blood,  let  us  draw  nigh.  The 
High  Priest  and  the  blood — these  are  the  everlasting  and  un- 
changing ground  of  our  confidence.  It  is  as  we  consider  Christ 
Jesus,  and  follow  Him ;  as  we  grow  in  the  knowledge  and  the 
faith  of  His  blood,  and  enter  through  it  into  God's  presence, 
that  we  shall  hold  fast  our  boldness  with  an  ever  firmer  grasp. 
As  with  a  true  heart  we  draw  nigh,  and  in  the  consciousness  of 
our  integrity,  that  in  holiness  and  sincerity  of  God  we  are 
walking  in  the  world,  place  ourselves  in  the  light  of  God,  we 
shall  receive  even  in  this  life  something  of  the  great  recompense 
(jf  reward  the  boldness  of  faith  ever  brings. 

Cast  not  away  your  boldness,  for  ye  have  need  of  patience. 
Your  boldness  you  cannot  dispense  with  for  a  single  moment ; 
to  the  end  of  life  it  is  your  only  strength.  Cast  it  not  away  ; 
remember  that  without  patience,  in  the  persevering  exercise  and 
daily  renewal  of  faith,  you  cannot  inherit  the  promise.     Between 


Zbc  IboUest  ot  ail  4i5 


the  faith  that  accepts  a  promise,  and  the  experience  that  fully 
inherits  or  receives  it,  there  often  lie  years  of  discipline  and 
training  needed  to  fit  and  perfect  you  for  the  inward  possession 
of  what  God  has  to  give.  Whether  it  be  a  promise  to  be 
realised  in  this  world  or  the  coming,  you  have  need  of  patience. 
Therefore  cast  not  away,  never  for  a  moment  lose  hold  of,  hold 
fast  firm  to  the  end,  your  boldness — ye  have  need  of  patience. 
In  chap.  vi.  it  was  said :  Be  imitators  of  them  who  through 
faith  and  longsuflfering  inherited  the  promise.  This  is  one 
of  the  great  practical  lessons  of  the  Epistle.  Without  perse- 
verance, endurance,  steadfastness,  faith  is  vain  ;  the  only  proof 
that  it  is  a  living,  saving  faith,  is  that  it  holds  fast  its  boldness 
firm  unto  the  end. 

Ye  have  need  of  patience,  that,  having  done  the  will  of 
God,  ye  may  receive  the  promise.  Doing  the  zvill  is  the  way 
to  receive  the  promise.  Doing  the  will  is  to  be  the  one  thing 
that  is  to  occupy  us  while  we  patiently  wait.  Between  God's 
giving  the  promise  to  Abraham  and  his  receiving  its  fulfil- 
ment there  lay  years  of  the  obedience  of  faith.  And  each  new 
act  of  obedience  was  crowned  with  new  and  larger  blessing. 
Doing  the  will  was  the  proof  of  his  faith,  the  occupation  of  his 
patience,  the  way  to  his  blessing.  It  was  even  so  with  our 
blessed  Lord.  Between  the  promise  given  Him  of  the  Father 
and  His  inheriting  it  in  the  resurrection  and  ascension  there 
lay — what?  His  life  of  obedience:  Lo,  1  am  come  to  do  Thy 
zvill,  O  God.  With  every  Christian  who  puts  his  trust  in  the 
living  Christ,  and  enters  the  Holiest  of  All  to  live  there,  doing 
the  will  of  God  must  be  the  link  that  unites  the  end  to  the 
beginning.  Between  the  faith  that  accepts  the  promise  and  the 
experience  that  fully  inherits  it,  there  may  to  us,  too,  be  years  of 
waiting  and  trial.     These  must  be  marked  by  the  obedience  of 


416  ZbC  -fcOllCdt  Of  an 


faith,  by  "  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,"  or  we  never  can 
reach  the  promised  end.  If  we  see  to  the  doing  of  God's  will, 
He  will  see  to  our  inheriting  the  promise.  The  sure  mark  of 
true  faith,  the  blessed  exercise  of  life  within  the  veil,  the  proof 
of  the  power  of  Christ,  the  obedient  One  within  us,  the  blessed- 
ness of  fellowship  with  God  will  all  come  with  this — doing  His 
will.  To  do  the  will  of  God  is  the  only  way  to  God  and  His 
presence.  Therefore,  day  by  day,  hour  by  hour,  let  this  be  our 
motto :  Patience,  that  havmg  done  the  will,  ye  may  inJierit  the 
promise. 

1.  We  have  been  so  little  accustomed  in  our  Christian  life  to  give  the  doing  of  God's  will 
its  right  place,  and  there  is  so  much  misconception  about  it,  as  if  it  is  not  actually  expected 
of  us,  that  it  will  take  time  and  trouble  to  get  the  heart  under  the  complete  mastery  of  the 
thought — /  am  every  moment  to  be  doing  nothing  but  the  will  of  God.  Jesas  Christ  liued  so. 
He,  our  Leader,  will  teach  it  us.  He,  our  life,  will  Hue  it  in  us.  He,  our  High  Priest,  will  by 
His  Spirit,  in  this  new  and  living  way,  bring  us  in  very  deed  nigh  to  God. 

2.  Boldness,  courage,  bravery,  the  chief  of  the  manly  virtues.  Patience,  one  of  the 
loueliest  of  the  gentler  sisterhood  of  passive  graces.  In  each  full  Christian  character  the  two 
must  be  combined.  Cast  not  away  your  boldness,  for—  Ye  have  need  of  patience.  Boldness  to 
undertake,  patience  to  carry  out  the  doing  of  God's  will. 

3.  0  believer,  let  the  truth  enter  deep  into  thee— boldly,  patiently  doing  the  will  is  the 
way  to  inherit  the  promise. 


?Cbe  iboUest  of  B»  417 


XCVII. 

BELIEVING   OR   DRAWING   BACK. 

X.— 36.  For  ye  have  need  of  patience,  that,  having  done  the  will  of  God, 
ye  may  receive  the  promise. 

37.  For  yet  a  very  little  while, 

He  that  cometh  shall  come,  and  shall  not  tarry. 

38.  But  my  righteous  one  shall  live  by  faith: 

And  if  he  shrink  back,'  my  soul  hath  no  pleasiu-e  in  him. 

39.  But  we  are  not  of  them  that  shrink  back  unto  perdition ;  but  of  them 
that  have  faith  unto  the  saving  of  the  soul. 

In  the  summary  we  had  (19-25)  of  what  life  in  the  Holiest 
means,  the  last  word,  after  we  had  been  urged  to  exhort  one 
another,  was  :  And  SO  much  the  more  as  ye  see  the  day  draw- 
ing nigh.  And  then  came  the  warning  of  the  fearful  expecta- 
tion of  judgment,  and  the  terror  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God.  Here  the  warning  closes  with  once  again  pointing 
to  the  Lord's  coming  as  not  far  off.  Christian  faith  lives  not 
only  in  the  unseen  present  but  also  in  the  future  ;  more  especially 
in  the  future  of  the  coming  of  Him  who  shall  appear  a  second 
time  to  them  that  wait  for  Him,  Him  who  is  now  seated  on 
the  throne,  expecting  till  all  His  enemies  be  made  His  footstool. 
Let  our  faith  so  live  in  the  future,  that  all  our  life  may  be  in 
the  power  of  eternity,  and  of  Him  in  whom  eternity  has  its 
glory. 

The  passage  quoted  is  from  Habakkuk,  the  same  that  forms 
the  text  of  the  Epistles  to  the   Galatians  and  Romans.     The 

^  Draw  back. 

2^ 


418  Sbe  t)olie6t  of  Bll 


prophet  is  told  by  God,  in  the  midst  of  the  oppression  of  Israel 
by  the  Chaldasans,  that  the  vision  will  surely  come.  Two 
classes  among  the  people  are  spoken  of.  Of  one  it  is  said : 
His  soul  is  puffed  up,  it  is  not  upright  in  liiui.  Of  the  other : 
But  the  righteous  shall  live  by  his  faith.  Our  writer  uses  the 
words  to  contrast  the  two  classes  among  the  Hebrews.  On 
the  one  side,  those  who  are  not  upright ;  on  the  other,  the 
righteous  who  live  by  faith.  The  righteous  man  will  in  the 
midst  of  trouble,  and  while  the  vision  is  delayed,  put  his  trust 
in  God,  and  live  in  that  trust.  He  shall  live  by  it  too.  the  God 
whom  He  trusts  will  not  fail  him  but  send  deliverance. 

Our  writer  introduces  the  passage  of  set  purpose,  to  serve  as 
the  text  of  the  following  chapter.  He  had  in  chaps,  iii.  and 
iv.  spoken  of  unbelief  as  the  great  sin  through  whidi  Israel  had 
perished  in  the  wilderness,  of  faith  as  the  one  thing  needful  if 
we  are  to  enter  into  the  rest  of  God.  In  chap.  vi.  of  the  faith 
by  which  the  fathers  inherited  the  promises.  He  had  in  our 
chapter,  in  his  summing  up  of  the  Epistle,  said  :  Let  US  draw 
nigh  in  the  fulness  of  faith.  He  wishes,  after  his  exposition  of 
what  the  purpose  and  the  work  of  Jesus  can  be  to  us,  to  show 
us  the  way  to  a  full  personal  experience  and  enjoyment  of  it  all. 
through  faith  alone.  He  proposes  to  do  so  by  proving  how  all 
the  Old  Testament  saints  had  lived  and  conquered  through 
faith,  and  how  it  is  the  one  only  thing  God  asks  if  we  are  to 
experience  His  mighty  saving  power  and  the  blessedness  of 
His  good  pleasure.  He  is  going  to  point  out  all  the  variety  of 
circumstances  and  difficulties  in  which  faith  will  give  us  God's 
help  and  sure  deliverance,  as  well  as  all  the  various  tempers 
and  dispositions  with  which  it  will  be  accompanied.  For  all 
this  he  finds  a  most  suggestive  text  in  the  words:  My  righteous 
one  shall  live  by  faith. 


TLbc  IboUest  ot  ail  419 


That  means  a  great  deal  more  than  what  many  think — the 
sinner  shall  be  counted  righteous  by  faith  ;  more,  too,  than  the 
righteous  shall  have  eternal  life  by  faith.  It  means,  the 
righteous  shall  live,  his  whole  life  shall  be,  by  faith.  This  is 
just  the  lesson  we  need.  The  righteous  who  lives  by  faith  is 
contrasted  with  him  who  draws  back,  of  whom  God  says : 
My  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure  in  Him.  The  one  cause  of 
backsliding  is  the  want  of  faith  in  the  unseen,  a  yielding  of 
the  heart  to  the  visible,  and,  in  the  battle  against  it,  a  trusting  in 
our  own  strength  and  not  in  Christ.  We  see  here  again  that 
there  is  no  other  alternative — either  believing  or  drawing  back. 
In  the  Christian  life  nothing  will  avail  to  keep  us  from  back- 
sliding but  the  fulness  of  faith — always  and  in  everything  to 
live  the  life  of  faith.  It  is  only  when  faith  gives  itself  up 
entirely  to  Christ  for  Him  to  do  all  in  us,  to  keep  us  standing 
too,  and  when  faith  so  dominates  our  life  that  every  moment 
and  every  engagement  shall  all  be  under  its  influence,  that  we 
can  hope  to  be  safe  from  drawing  back.  If  I  am  to  be  sure  of 
salvation,  if  I  am  to  be  strong  against  eveiy  temptation,  if  I  am 
to  live  daily  as  one  in  whom  God's  soul  has  pleasure,  I  must  see 
to  one  thing — to  be  a  man  of  faith. 

Let  us  prepare  ourselves  for  the  wonderful  chapter  that  is 
coming,  and  all  its  blessed  teaching,  by  looking  back  on  what 
has  been  set  before  us  of  Christ  and  His  redemption  as  the 
object  of  our  faith.  He  is  the  Priest  for  ever,  the  Priest  of 
God's  oath,  able  to  save  completely — shall  we  not  throw  our 
whole  being  wide  open  to  Him  in  trust?  We  have  Him,  a 
Priest-King  upon  the  throne,  the  Minister  of  the  sanctuary  He 
has  opened  for  us,  and  where  He  presides,  to  bring  us  in — oh, 
shall  we  not  be  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God  ?  We  have 
Him,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  who  with  one  sacrifice 


420  Zbc  ■foolicet  of  ail 


hath  perfected  Himself  and  us  for  evermore,  and  whose  work 
it  is  to  write  and  put  God's  law  within  us  as  the  power  of  a 
living  obedience, — again,  I  say,  shall  we  not  believe,  and  allow 
this  mighty  Saviour  to  do  His  perfect  work  in  us  ?  We  have 
entered  the  Holiest  of  All,  we  have  in  faith  claimed  God's 
presence,  and  the  life  of  abiding  continually  in  it  as  our  portion, 
and  we  have  the  great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God  to  make  it 
all  true  and  sure  to  us  ;  surely  it  needs  no  words  to  urge  us  to 
make  faith,  faith  alone,  the  faith  of  the  heart,  the  unceasing 
sacrifice  we  bring  our  God.  So  may  we  too  say.  We  are  not  of 
them  that  draw  back,  but  of  them  that  believe  to  the  saving  of 
the  soul. 

7.  The  oiilij  cure  for  all  the  coldness  and  backsliding  in  the  Church  is  "the  preaching  of  faith." 
Holiness  by  faith,  standing  by  faith,  being  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith,  having  Christ 
awell  in  our  heart  by  faith,— this  must  be  the  daily  food  of  the  Christian.  A  preaching  that 
insists  upon  salvation  by  faith  chiefly  as  pardon  and  acceptance  must  produce  feeble 
Christians.     The  fulness  of  faith  is  indispensable  to  the  full  Christian  life. 

2.  Believing  or  drawing  back—there  is  no  other  alternative.  Look  back  over  the  warning  of 
which  these  words  form  the  conclusion,  and  let  us  fear  at  the  terrible  possibility  for  ourselves 
and  others.  And  look  forward  to  the  coming  chapter,  with  the  one  prayer  that  our  whole  life  may 
be  in  the  fulness  of  faith,  in  the  very  presence  and  power  of  God. 


tlbe  IboUeet  of  mi  421 


TENTH    SECTION.-xi.    1-40. 
The  Fulness  of  Faith. 


XCVIII. 

FAITH-THE   SENSE  FOR  THE   UNSEEN. 

XI.— 1.  Now  faith  is  the  assurance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  proving  of 
things  not  seen. 

2.  For  therein  the  elders  had  witness  borne  to  them. 

3.  By  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  have  been  framed  by  the  word 
of  God,  so  that  what  is  seen  hath  not  been  made  out  of  things  which  do 
appear. 

The  previous  chapter  closed  with  the  solemn  lesson  :  There  is 
no  alternative,  believing  or  drawing  back  ;  there  is  no  .safety 
or  strength  for  the  Christian,  but  to  be  strong  in  faith ;  there 
is  no  way  of  pleasing  God,  of  abiding  in  His  presence  and 
favour,  but  by  faith.  If  any  man  draw  back,  My  soul  hath  no 
pleasure  in  him.  And  so,  after  the  teaching  of  the  Epistle  as 
to  what  God  hath  done,  we  are  now  to  see  that  for  our  enjoy- 
ment of  its  power  and  blessing  but  one  thing  is  needed — the 
fulness  of  faith.  It  will  be  shown  us  how  this  is  the  key  to  the 
life  of  all  God's  saints,  and  to  all  that  God  did  for  them. 

The  writer  begins  by  a  general  statement  of  what  faith 
really  is  in  its  nature  and  action.  Now  faith  is  the  assurance 
of  things  hoped  for,  the  proving  of  things  not  seen.  Faith  is 
the  spiritual  faculty  of  the  soul  which  deals  with  the  spiritual 


422  ;rbc  Doliest  of  ail 


realities  of  the  future  and  the  unseen.  Just  as  we  have  our 
senses,  through  which  we  hold  communication  with  the  physical 
universe,  so  faith  is  the  spiritual  sense  or  organ  through  which 
the  soul  comes  into  contact  with  and  is  affected  by  the  spiritual 
world.  Just  as  the  sense  of  seeing  or  hearing  is  a  ^dormant 
power  till  the  objective  reality,  the  light  or  the  sound,  strikes  it, 
so  faith  in  itself  is  a  sense  with  no  power  beyond  the  possibility 
or  capacity  of  receiving  the  impressions  of  the  eternal.  It  is 
as  an  empty  vessel  which  wants  to  be  filled  with  its  unseen 
contents.  It  is  only  when  the  eternal  realities  draw  near  and 
exercise  their  power  that  faith  becomes  and  is  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for,  the  foundation  which  they  lay  in  the  soul, 
the  proof  or  conviction  of  things  unseen,  the  convincing  power 
with  which  they  give  evidence  and  proof  of  their  own  super- 
natural existence.^  Faith  as  a  dormant  faculty  is  the  capacity 
for  receiving  this  communication  ;  faith  as  an  active  power  is 
what  it  is  in  virtue  of  the  overshadowing  of  the  Invisible.  The 
Invisible  takes  the  initiative  and  wakens  faith ;  faith  receives 
the  impression  and  seeks  for  ever  fuller  union  with  it. 

Faith  is  thus  much  more  than  trust  in  the  word  of  another. 
That  trust  is  of  extreme  importance  as  its  initial  exercise,  but 

'  The  iwo  words  substance  and  proof  are  used  bolli  in  the  objective  and  sub 
jective  sense.  The  word  for  substance  properly  means  the  foundation,  and  is  used 
of  the  real  nature  of  a  thing  as  opposed  to  appearance.  So,  in  chap.  i.  3,  of  the 
substance  of  God,  the  divine  essence.  Or  it  is  used  of  the  confidence  which  knows 
tha4  it  rests  on  a  sure  foundation.  So,  in  chap.  iii.  14,  the  beginning  of  our  confidence. 
It  is  of  importance  to  hold  fast  the  connection  between  the  two  meanings.  So  the 
word  proof,  or  conviction,  from  the  verb  used  in  passages,  as,  The  Spirit  shall 
con'i'ince  of  sin,  and  often  elsewhere  of  reproof,  chiding,  means  both  the  convic- 
tion of  guilt,  or  the  conviction  of  a  truth  which  is  brought  from  without,  and  the 
subjective  conviction  which  comes  when  one  submits  and  allows  himself  to  be  con- 
victed. It  thus  means  both  the  means  of  proof  and  the  proof  itself.  See  2  Tim. 
iii.  16 — Scripture  profitable  for  reproof. 


Cbe  1bo«c0t  of  ail  422 


the  word  must  only  be  the  servant  leading  in  to  the  divine 
truth  it  contains,  the  living  person  from  whom  it  comes.  To 
deal  too  exclusively  with  the  word  as  the  ground  of  faith  will 
lead  to  a  faith  that  is  more  intellectual  than  spiritual,  a  faith 
that,  as  the  Church  so  universally  shows,  rests  more  in  the 
wisdom  of  men,  in  the  power  of  reason,  than  in  the  power  of 
God.  iWe  need  to  be  persuaded  very  deeply  that  faith  is  not 
only  a  dealing  with  certain  promises,  but  an  unceasing  spiritual 
intercourse  with  the  unseen  world  around  us.^  Just  as  in 
breathing,  our  lungs,  or  in  seeing,  our  eyes,  hold  themselves 
open  to  receive  unceasingly,  from  the  air  or  the  light,  what 
they  without  ceasing  in  the  literal  sense  press  upon  us,  so  faith 
is  the  unceasing  reaching  out  heavenward  of  that  spiritual 
sense  to  which  things  future  and  unseen  reveal  themselves  as 
near  and  present,  as  living  and  powerful.  Faith  must  in  the 
spiritual  life  be  as  natural,  as  unceasing,  as  our  breathing  and 
seeing  when  we  are  doing  our  ordinary  work. 

For  therein  the  elders  had  witness  borne  to  them.  Of 
Abel  we  read :  He  had  witness  borne  to  him  that  he  was 
righteous,  God  bearing-  witness  in  respect  of  his  gifts.  And 
Enoch :  He  had  witness  borne  to  him  that  he  had  been  well 
pleasing  to  God.  And  so  it  is  said  of  all,  ver.  39 :  These  all 
had  witness  borne  to  them  through  their  faith.  Faith  does 
not  depend  for  its  blessing  on  the  intensity  of  its  effort ;  the 
unseen  world,  the  eternity  that  surrounds  us,  is  all  filled  by  the 
living  God  ;  and  to  the  faith  that  opens  itself  heavenward  He 
bears  witness.  Let  us  be  sure  of  this :  faith  can  grow  into  firm 
and  full  assurance,  it  finds  its  confidence  not  in  itself  but  in 
God.  Let  us  count  upon  it,  the  faith  that  seeks  for  the  eternal 
will  be  met  by  God  and  have  the  witness  borne  by  Himself  that 
God  counts  us  righteous,  that  we  are  well-pleasing  in  His  sight. 


424  Zbc  -fcolicst  of  an 


By  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  have  been  framed 
by  the  word  of  God,  so  that  what  is  seen  hath  not  been  made 
out  of  things  which  do  appear.  This  visible  world  is  to  man 
his  great  temptation  to  forget  God.  F"aith  is  the  eye  with 
which  he  can  see  God  in  all,  which  makes  every  part  of  it  the 
transparent  revelation  of  the  nearness  and  goodness  of  God. 
By  faith  we  understand  that  all  was  framed  by  God  ;  by  faith 
we  see  divinity  and  omnipotence  in  all,  so  that  what  is  seen  is 
known  as  made  out  of  things  that  do  not  appear.  T/ie  invisible 
things  of  Him  from  the  creation  of  the  zvorld  are  clearly  seen, 
ci>e7i  His  eternal  power  and  Godhead.  Faith  sees  His  super- 
scription on  every  part  of  His  handiwork,  sees  it  all  pervaded 
by  the  living  God  ;  surrounded  by  the  things  that  perish  and 
pass  away,  it  yet  stands  in  the  midst  of  eternity,  it  knows 
itself  allied  to  the  unchangeable  One.  The  world,  instead  of 
being  a  hindrance,  becomes  a  help  in  revealing  the  everlasting 
God.  And  faith  finds  its  life  and  its  delight  and  its  ever- 
increasing  strength  in  meeting  everywhere  the  God  who  delights 
to  bear  witness  of  Himself  to  them  that  seek  after  Him. 

1.  Faith  is  mostly  thought  of  as  a  power  by  which  we  grasp  the  heavenly  things,  and  we 
weary  ourselves  in  vain  attempts  to  do  so.  No,  faith  is  the  substance,  the  substructure,  that  the 
divine  things  lay  in  me,  the  proof  they  give  in  me  of  their  actual  reality.  Just  as  the  light  of  the 
sun  is  its  own  evidence  and  proof,  so  with  the  liglit  of  Qod.  The  more  we  see  this,  the  more 
confident  will  our  hope  be  that  they  will  prove  themselves  to  us,  and  the  more  meeli  end  patient 
and  humble  will  be  the  spirit  in  which  we  wait  for  their  self-revelation. 

2.  The  rules  for  the  strengthening  of  faith  are  thus  very  simple.  Regard  the  unseen  world  as 
an  actually  existing  kingdom  of  divine  truth  and  power,  which  seeks  to  conquer  and  get  possession 
of  and  bless  you.  Accept  the  measure  of  faith  there  is  within  you  as  the  proof  of  its  existence 
and  operation,  the  pledge  of  a  fuller  revelation.  Accept  all  that  is  revealed  of  it  in  the  word  as  a 
finger-post  to  wake  the  longing  and  to  show  the  way  to  the  full  possession.  Set  the  heart  open, 
in  holy  separation,  from  the  world ;  in  meditation  and  adoration  and  expectation  the  unseen  world 
can  become  more  real  and  more  near  than  the  seen. 

3.  Nothing  can  be  a  proof  of  anything  but  that  which  partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  thing 
proved.     Thus  it  is  with  faith  and  the  spiritual  world. 


Zbc  IboUcst  of  mi  42J 


XCIX. 

ABEL-THE  SACRIFICE  OF  FAITH. 

XI.— 4.  By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than 
Cain,  tlirough  which  he  had  witness  borne  to  him  that  he  was  righteous, 
God  bearing  witness  in  respect  of  his  gifts :  and  through  it  he  being  dead  yet 
speaketh. 

One  of  the  chief  words  of  the  Epistle  is  offering,  sacrifice. 
Christ  "  offered  Himself  unto  God."  "  He  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Himself."  "  By  one  offering  He  hath  perfected  for 
ever  them  that  are  sanctified."  The  inner  spirit  and  power  of 
that  life  by  which  Christ  pleased  His  Father,  and  put  away  sin, 
and  gained  His  seat  on  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  was 
— the  offering  of  His  body.  As  the  Leader  of  our  salvation  He 
guides  His  people  in  the  same,  the  new  and  living  way,  that  of 
self-sacrifice. 

It  is  a  most  remarkable  and  deeply  suggestive  fact  that 
among  those  who  have  preceded  us  in  the  way  of  faith,  we 
should  find  that  with  the  very  first  one,  Abel,  the  first  fruit  of 
faith  was  to  sacrifice.  The  disposition,  of  which  sacrifice  is  the 
expression,  lies  at  the  very  root  of  the  life  of  faith.  If  I  would 
in  this  chapter  learn  what  faith  is,  and  how  I  can  grow  strong  in 
faith,  I  must  mark  well  what  the  very  first  step  is  :  By  faith 
Abel  offered  a  more  excellent  sacrifice. 

We  know  what  the  double  meaning  was  of  Abel's  sacrifice. 
It  was,  on  the  one  hand,  his  offering  to  God  of  a  life  to  be  given 
up  to  death,  and  so  in  his  stead  to  bear  the  death  which  is  in  its 


426  ;rbc  -fcoUest  of  mi 


very  nature  the  punishment  of  sin.  It  was  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  against  sin  ;  the  confession 
that  without  blood-shedding  there  could  be  no  remission  of  sins. 
It  was  an  act  of  faith  ;  he  counted  that  the  sacrifice  would  be 
acceptable,  and  that  with  it  he  would  be  accepted  too.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  sacrifice  was  the  offering  and  yielding  up  himself 
to  God  and  His  service.  He  knew  it  was  something  that  lay  in 
the  very  nature  and  spirit  of  a  true  sacrifice,  that  it  could  not 
be  pleasing  to  God  if  he  offered  the  lamb,  and  kept  back 
himself.  No,  the  sacrifice  was  the  double  confession — that  he 
was  unworthy  to  offer  himself  to  God  without  atonement,  but 
that,  believing  that  in  the  sacrifice  he  was  accepted,  he  gave 
himself  to  God's  worship  and  service,  he  gave  himself  to  the 
very  death,  to  die  to  self  and  live  to  God.  And  it  was  as  if  his 
own  death  had  to  confirm  and  seal  the  truth ;  the  man  who  had 
offered  the  sacrifice  of  faith,  had  founded  his  worship  in  the 
death  of  a  lamb,  had  to  die  himself  to  find  the  way  to  God. 
The  atoning  sacrifice  has  ever  two  sides ;  the  Iamb  was  at 
once  a  substitute  and  a  symbol,  its  death  an  atonement  and  a 
consecration. 

Faith  draws  nigh  to  God  through  sacrifice;  in  Christ  this 
truth  finds  its  full  realisation.  By  one  ofifering  He  hath  per- 
fected for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  Our  access  to  God 
and  our  fellowship  with  Him  can  only  be  in  Christ's  finished 
work.  We  have  boldness  through  His  blood.  His  blood 
cleanses  and  perfects  the  conscience.  The  first  great  work  of 
faith  is  to  appropriate  the  sacrifice  and  obedience  and  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  as  accepted  for  us,  to  hold  it  up  before  God,  and 
by  the  1  loly  Spirit  to  have  the  witness  given,  and  to  experience 
how  acceptable  we  arc.  But  faith  cannot  fully  do  this  without 
at  the  same  time  entering  into  the  inner  spiritual  significance  of 


;rbe  Iboliest  of  ail  427 


the  sacrifice,  and  becoming  partaker  of  the  spirit  and  disposition 
it  breathes,  and  in  which  alone  it  has  its  value.  Faith  sees  that 
the  law  of  self-sacrifice,  under  which  the  Head  went  in  to  God,  is 
the  law  for  each  of  the  members.  There  is  no  way  out  of  sin 
and  sinful  flesh,  but  through  death  to  life.  And  as  faith  sees 
the  beauty  and  the  power  of  the  truth  in  Christ,  it  hungers  for 
conformity  to  Him  in  this  His  highest  moral  glory,  and  becomes 
itself  the  root  of  an  inward  self-sacrifice,  a  continual  offering  of 
itself  to  God  and  His  holiness;  because  it  is  nothing  less  than  a 
real,  living  union  with  Christ  the  High  Priest  Himself.  Christ 
became  our  Substitute  because  He  was  our  Head  ;  faith  begins 
with  the  knowledge  of  him  as  Substitute,  but  grows  up  into  Him, 
the  Head  of  all  things,  and  specially  in  the  fellowship  of  His 
death.  We  find  this  truth  throughout  Scripture.  All  that  is 
said  in  Rom.  vi.  and  Col.  iii.  of  our  being  dead  to  sin  in  Christ, 
and  alive  to  God,  in  2  Cor.  iv.  of  bearing  about  in  the  body  the 
dying  of  Jesus  that  His  life  may  be  manifested  in  us,  in  Gal.  ii. 
and  vi.  of  our  being  crucified  with  Christ,  being  crucified  to  the 
world,  in  Phil.  iii.  of  our  being  made  conformable  to  His  death, 
points  to  this — the  inward  spirit  and  disposition  of  self- 
sacrifice  is  born  within  us  by  His  Spirit,  is  breathed  in  us  every 
day  where  there  is  true  communion  with  Him.  The  blessing  of 
Christ's  death  as  atonement  is  only  surpassed  because  it  is  only 
fulfilled  in  that  of  His  death  as  fellowship. 

Beloved  Christian,  we  know  what  the  great  lesson  of  the 
Epistle  is :  the  way  into  the  Holiest  is  opened  up,  we  can  live 
and  abide  continually  in  the  presence  of  God.  And  now  the 
chapter  is  to  teach  us  how  the  power  to  come  thus  near  and 
abide  near  to  God,  to  enjo)^  the  full  salvation  pro\'ided  for  us,  is 
given  to  faith  alone.  And  Abel,  the  first  of  the  men  of  faith, 
teaches   us  just  what  the  Epistle,  what  Christ  our  High  Priest 


428  zbc  -bolicst  of  ail 


has  taught — that  the  \va>'  to  God,  that  the  way  of  faith,  is  the 
way  of  sacrifice,  of  death.  Christ  entered  in  to  God  in  the  way 
of  self-sacrifice  ;  in  faith  I  accept  of  Him,  and  His  entrance  into 
God's  presence  is  mine;  in  union  with  Him,  once  and  for  ever 
mine.  His  self-sacrifice  becomes  the  spirit  and  the  power  of 
my  life,  and  the  life  of  faith  in  me  becomes  the  union  of  the 
two — His  and  my  self-sacrifice. 

God  said  :  JVo  man  shall  see  Me  and  live.  Through  death, 
the  death  of  Christ,  our  death  in  and  with  Him,  is  the  way  to 
God.  This  is  the  new  and  living  way,  the  way  into  the  Holiest. 
Let  us  walk  in  it,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us  yield 
ourselves  in  great  simplicity  and  humility  to  die  to  self,  as  we 
confess  our  helplessness,  and  look  to  God  to  quicken  us  in 
Christ.  Let  us  tarry  in  childlike  dependence  and  patience,  with 
the  one  desire,  to  please  the  Father  as  Jesus  pleased  Him.  .And 
as  we  wait,  and  patiently  do  the  will  of  God,  He  may  show  us 
liow,  in  the  ouce  and  for  ever  of  His  death  and  resurrection,  there 
is  for  us  a  perfect  entrance  into  the  perfect  life  that  has  been 
offered  to  our  faith. 

7.  Abel  had  witness  borne  him  that  he  was  righteous.  As  he  bowed  to  God's  righteous 
judgment  on  sin,  and  trusted  in  God's  righteous  deliverance  from  it  through  sacrifice,  he  was 
righteous  in  God's  sight.  As  he  worshipped  with  his  eye  on  the  dying  lamb,  he  had  witness 
borne  to  him.  How  I  know  not.  As  with  my  eye  on  the  dying  Lamb  I  worship,  the  witness 
comes  to  me  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  I  am  righteous. 

2.  Let  me  believe  in  the  immeasurable  power  of  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  until  my  whole  being 
is  filled  with  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

3.  The  more  I  gaze,  in  confession  and  trust,  on  the  dying  Lamb,  the  more  may  I  claim  the 
spirit  of  His  sacrifice  to  enter  into  me,  and  make  me  conformed  to  His  likeness. 

4.  A  more  excellent  sacrifice.  Cain  brings  his  offering  without  death,  without  blood— the 
spirit  and  religion  of  the  world.  With  Abel  and  the  hosts  of  heaven  it  is  all- the  blood  of  the 
Lamb. 


^be  ibollest  ot  Hll  429 


ENOCH-THE  WALK  OF  FAITH. 

XI.— 5.  By  faith  Enoch  was  translated  that  he  should  not  see  death;  and 
he  was  not  found,  because  God  translated  him :  for  before  his  translation  he 
hath  had  witness  borne  to  him  that  he  had  been  well-pleasing  unto  God: 

6.  And  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  be  well-pleasing  unto  him :  for 
he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is.  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder 
of  them  that  seek  after  him. 

The  sacrifice  of  faith  is  the  entrance  to  the  hfe  of  faith,  and 
ever  remains  its  chief  characteristic.  On  the  sacrifice  of  faith 
there  follows  the  walk  of  faith — abiding,  continuous  fellowship 
is  the  fruit  of  Christ's  self-sacrifice  and  ours.  On  Abel  follows 
Enoch.  Abel  shows  how  death  is  the  entrance  to  life :  he 
triumphs  over  death  by  submitting  to  it.  In  Enoch,  we  see 
how  life  triumphs  over  death  :  he  does  not  see  death.  Through 
faith  Abel  being  dead  yet  speaketh  ;  Enoch  speaks  as  one  who 
ever  Hveth.  In  Abel  we  see  how  death  leads  to  life.  In  Enoch 
we  see  the  life  that  never  dies.  In  Abel  we  see  Christ  the 
crucified,  and  the  boldness  we  have  through  the  blood  to  enter 
in  in  the  new  and  living  way  that  goes  through  the  rent  veil. 
In  Enoch  we  see  Christ  glorified  and  have  life  in  the  Holiest 
— the  walk  with  God,  the  living  One. 

In  connection  with  Enoch  there  are  three  things  taught  us 
in  regard  to  faith.  The  first  is,  as  to  its  nature.  He  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a 
rewarder    of  them   that   seek    after   Him.      Faith    is    the 


430  Sbe  Dolicdt  of  Bll 


spiritual  sense  by  which  we  recognise  the  presence  and 
character  of  the  unseen  God;  both  that  He  is,  and  that  lie 
rewards  the  seeker.  Desire  is  the  root  of  faith  ;  without  a 
hunger  for  God  His  existence  is  a  matter  of  indifference  ;  the 
knowledge  of  His  being  does  not  affect  the  soul.  Faith  seeks 
for  God  ;  it  believes  that  He  is  ;  it  keeps  the  heart  open  towards 
Him  ;  it  bows  in  humility  and  hope  for  Him  to  make  Himself 
known.  To  know  God,  to  see  God  in  everything  and  every- 
where, in  our  daily  life  to  be  conscious  of  His  presence  so  that 
we  always  walk  with  Him — this  is  the  true  nobility  of  man  ; 
this  is  the  life  that  faith  lives ;  this  is  the  blessedness  Jesus 
has  now  fully  revealed  in  the  rending  of  the  veil.  Faith  can 
walk  with  God.  He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that 
He  is.  And  also  a  rewarder  of  them  that  seek  after  Him. 
Faith  believes  that  God  can  be  found  ;  that  He  can  and  will 
make  Himself  known ;  that  He  cares  for  everyone  who  truly 
longs  for  Him  ;  that  He  has  a  divine  reward  for  the  seeker 
after  Him.  In  seeking  Him  the  way  may  at  times  be  dark  and 
long,  and  the  progress  slow  ;  faith  honours  God  with  its  con- 
fidence as  the  God  of  love  and  truth  ;  He  will  reward  and  bless. 
Let  the  deep  restfulness  of  this  assured  conviction  be  the  root  of 
all  your  seekin;^  after  God. 

The  second  lesson  we  have  is  as  to  what  the  reward  of  faith 
will  be.  Before  his  translation  he  had  been  well-pleasing  to 
God.  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  be  well-pleasing. 
God  created  us  for  Himself:  it  is  our  destiny,  wc  were  made 
with  the  one  object  of  pleasing  Him,  and  being  His  delight. 
God  is  perfect  goodness  :  a  state  of  life  in  which  we  please  God 
must  be  one  of  goodness  and  perfect  blessedness,  in  our  fallen 
state  we  are  well-plcasing  by  faith.  Faith  is  the  surrender  to 
God.     Faith  honours  God  by  acknowledging  and  seeking  His 


^be  Iboliest  ot  ail  431 


presence,  by  expecting  everything  from  Him  alone,  by  resting 
on  Him.  Faith  gives  God  His  place  and  His  glory;  faith  wills 
what  God  wills ;  faith  lets  God  have  His  own  way,  and  makes 
Him  all  in  all.  No  wonder  that  faith  is  infinitely  well-pleasing 
to  Him.  If  Christians  only  believed  this,  and  only  made  it 
their  one  study  to  draw  nigh  and  enter  in,  and  walk  before  Him 
in  the  fulness  of  faith. 

Then  comes  the  third  lesson — faith  knows  that  it  pleases 
God.  Enoch  had  witness  borne  to  him  that  he  had  been 
well  pleasing  to  God.  It  was  by  faith  that  this  witness  came 
(see  vers.  2,  4,  39).  It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  a  healthy 
faith  :  God  does  not  leave  Himself  without  a  witness  to  the 
soul  that  trusts  in  Him,  least  of  all  in  the  New  Testament. 
The  Lord  Jesus  promised  to  send  from  the  Father  in  heaven 
the  Holy  Spirit,  as  a  witness  of  all  that  took  place  in  heaven  on 
His  ascension.  All  that  the  Epistle  has  taught  us  of  the  rent 
veil  and  the  opened  sanctuary  and  the  entrance  into  God's 
presence,  of  Christ's  perfect  work  and  complete  salvation  as 
the  Priest  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  has  its  seal  and  its 
worth  and  its  power  and  its  reality  in  our  heart,  from  the 
Pentecostal  gift.  The  Holy  Spirit  brought  down,  out  of  that 
Holiest  of  All  within  the  veil,  as  an  actual  reality,  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  into  men's  hearts,  so  that  the  presence  of 
God,  and  the  Father's  delight  in  His  Son,  and  the  Father's  love 
now  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts  become  their  everyday  experi- 
ence and  consciousness.  And  even  so  now  still,  to  them  who 
seek  and  receive  and  yield  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  His  full 
indwelling  and  witness,  faith  receives  and  gives  the  witness 
that  we  are  well-pleasing. 

By  faith  Enoch  walked  with  God.  My  brother,  who  with 
Abel  hast  drawn  nigh  to  God  in  the  infinite  self-sacrifice  of 


432  zbc  IboUedt  ot  Bll 


Jesus,  Icarn  with  Enoch  to  walk  with  God  the  walk  of  faith. 
Let  the  presence  of  God  be  thy  one  desire ;  the  will  of  God  thy 
one  choice ;  the  help  of  God  thy  one  trust ;  the  likeness  to  God 
thy  one  hope.  Let  every  day,  the  most  ordinary  one,  the  most 
difficult  one,  be  a  day  with  God,  as  one  of  the  days  of  heaven 
upon  earth,  a  day  of  which  faith  is  the  beginning  and  the  end. 
Let  all  the  teaching  of  the  Epistle,  as  to  the  wonderful,  the 
perfect,  the  everlasting  redemption  in  the  Son  of  God,  have  this 
one  result — that  it  make  thee  full  of  faith  in  God,  and  guide 
thee  to  draw  nigh  to  God,  to  walk  with  God  ;  and  thou,  too, 
shalt  know  what  it  is  not  to  see  death  ;  by  faith  to  be  translated, 
aud  have  it  written — He  was  not,  for  God  took  him. 

7.  Jesus  said  that  John  the  Baptist  was  the  greatest  of  all  the  prophets,  greater  than 
Enoch  too.  And  yet,  the  least  in  the  hingdom  was  greater  than  John.  'And  must  it  then 
be  eounted  impossible  for  men  even  now  to  walk  with  God,  and  to  have  the  witness  that 
they  are  well-pleasing  to  Him  ?    Alas  for  the  Church  that  scarce  believes  it. 

2.  The  one  great  work  of  Jesus  is  to  bring  us  near  to  God,  in  the  nearness  of  unity  of 
will  and  heart.  And  what  He  does  is  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life  ;  He  abides  continually, 
and  what  He  gives  abides  continually  too.  We  can  ever  abide  in  God's  presence  and  walk  with 
Him. 

3.  By  faith,  that  lives  in  the  unseen ;  that  allows  Christ  to  do  His  mighty  work ;  that 
believes  that  the  presence  of  God  is  now  its  home ;  and  so  enters  into  its  rest. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  ail  433 


CI. 

NOAH-THE  WORK  OF  FAITH. 

XI.-7.  By  faith  Noah,  being  warned  of  God  concerning  things  not  seen 
as  yet,  moved  with  godly  fear,  prepared* an  ark  to  the  saving  of  his  house; 
through  which  he  condemned  the  world,  and  became  heir  of  the  righteousness 
which  is  according  to  faith. 

In  Abel  we  see  how  faith  makes  death  the  path  to  Hfe.  In 
Enoch,  how  faith  conquers  death.  In  Noah,  how  faith  saves 
others  from  death  by  the  work  it  does  for  them.  The  moment 
the  entrance  into  the  HoHest  through  the  blood  had  been  set 
open  to  us,  we  were  called  to  the  work  of  love  (x.  19,  24,  25). 
If  with  Abel  we  have  drawn  nigh  to  God,  in  the  death  of  Christ 
and  the  death  to  self — this  is  the  root  of  the  tree  ;  if  with  Enoch 
we  have  given  ourselves  to  a  walk  with  God,  in  His  presence 
and  good  pleasure — this  is  the  tree  growing  from  the  root ;  let 
us,  with  Noah,  do  the  work  of  faith,  that  can  bless  and  save  those 
around  us — this  is  the  fruit  of  the  tree.  In  his  story  we  find  all 
the  essential  elements  of  faith  combined. 

By  faith  Noah,  being  warned  of  God  concerning  things  not 
seen  as  yet.  Faith  has  ever  to  do  with  the  future  and  the  unseen. 
It  lives  in  God's  word  and  thoughts ;  it  sees  what  the  world  can- 
not see :  it  sees  all,  the  future  too,  in  the  light  of  God.  When 
God  reveals  His  terrible,  almost  incredible  judgment,  it  simply 
believes.  It  trusts  not  to  its  own  experience  or  instinct,  its 
thoughts  or  wishes.     It  believes  in  the  inconceivable  fearfulness 

of  a  judgment  to  come.     O  believer!  if  thou  wouldst  live  and 
28 


434  m)e  IboHeet  or  »il 


save  men,  believe  what  God  has  said  of  the  impending  doom 
that  is  coming  on  the  world. 

Moved  with  godly  fear.  When  Jesus  prayed  in  Gethscmanc 
(v.  9),  under  the  sense  of  what  sin  and  death  are,  it  was  with 
godly  fear.  We  arc  exhorted  (xii.  28)  to  offer  service  well- 
pleasing  to  God  with  godly  fear,  because  our  God  is  a  con- 
suming fire.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God.  How  awfully  and  repeatedly  our  Epistle  speaks 
of  the  fate  of  the  disobedient.  Surely  it  becomes  us,  whose  eyes 
have  been  opened,  with  godly  fear  to  listen  to  God's  warnings, 
and  then,  under  the  mighty  impulse  of  that  motive,  moved  with 
godly  fear,  on  some  to  have  mercy  with  fear,  snatching  them 
out  of  the  fire. 

By  faith  Noah  prepared  an  ark.  Faith  wrought  fear,  and 
fear  wrought  diligence,  and  faith  guided  heart  and  hand  for  the 
work  of  deliverance.  No  one  had  ever  heard  of  a  coming  flood, 
and  the  destruction  of  a  world  by  water.  No  one  could  ever 
have  thought,  if  the  world  were  drowned,  of  an  ark  escaping 
alone.  But  faith  lives  in  fellow.ship  with  God;  it  knows  His 
secrets  of  judgment  and  of  salvation  ;  it  so  possesses  a  man 
that  he  gives  up  his  life  to  act  it  out.  In  the  face  of  the  mockery 
of  men,  and  the  long  delay  of  the  day,  and  all  the  difficulties  of 
the  work,  Noah  held  fast  to  God's  word.  Simply  to  listen  to 
what  God  says,  and  in  the  obedience  of  faith  to  give  up  our 
whole  heart  and  life  to  carry  it  out :  this  is  faith. 

To  the  saving  of  his  house.  The  believer  is  blessed  by  God, 
to  be  made  a  blessing.  The  faith  of  Noah,  made  perfect  by 
works,  saved  his  family  ;  and  with  the  family  he  .saved  the 
race,  and  became  the  father  of  us  all.  His  preaching  appeared 
to  have  little  fruit,  and  yet  the  whole  Church  of  God.  since  his 
day,  owes  its  life  to  his   faith   too.     Man   was  created   in   God's 


Zbc  Iboliest  ot  au  435 


likeness  in  this  too,  that  he  has  power  over  other  Hves.  The 
power  begins  with  the  family,  but  reaches  farther.  The  man  of 
faith  who  with  Abel,  in  the  one  sacrifice,  has  passed  through 
death  to  life,  and  with  Enoch  walks  with  God,  has  power  with 
God,  the  power  of  life  and  of  blessing. 

Through  which  faith  he  condemned  the  world.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  unbeliever  and  the  believer  is  this :  the  one  is 
a  man  of  the  world,  and  lives  here  ;  the  other  is  a  man  of  God, 
and  lives  in  heaven.  His  whole  life  is  a  protest  and  a  con- 
demnation of  the  world.  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah — all  three  were 
equally  rejected  and  despised  by  the  world,  because  they  con- 
demned its  works.  God  grant  that  the  life  of  his  believing 
children  may  be  so  clear  and  bright,  that  the  world  may  feel 
itself  condemned  by  them  ! 

And  became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  according 
to  faith, — the  righteousness  of  standing  in  the  right  relation  to 
God,  of  a  life  of  which  faith  is  the  root  and  power.  Righteous- 
ness has  been  defined  the  giving  each  his  due.  This  is  the  worth 
of  faith  in  the  sight  of  God  :  it  gives  Him  His  place  as  God,  in 
it  the  soul  confesses  that  it  is  nothing,  and  that  God  is  all.  This 
faith  God  counts  for  righteousness. 

The  faith  that  Noah  manifested  with  regard  to  the  ark,  and 
the  salvation  it  was  to  bring,  we  must  show  in  relation  to  Christ 
and  His  salvation.  The  opened  sanctuary  is  an  ark  of  refuge  : 
Christ  has  completed  and  perfected  all.  But  what  work  there  is 
for  us  to  do,  in  gathering  into  it  all  that  can  be  saved !  Let  us, 
like  Noah,  give  our  lives  to  this.  Let  us  listen  to  God's  awful 
threatenings  on  a  sinful  world,  and  be  moved  with  fear.  Let  us 
believe  in  the  infinite  power  of  the  great  salvation  provided,  with 
the  love  that  waits  to  dispense  and  apply  it.  Let  us  believe  in 
the  call  of  God,  that  invites  and  enjoins  each  one  of  His  redeemed 


436  trbe  "boUcet  of  ail 


children  to  be  a  messenger  of  mercy  to  the  perishing,  and  that 
assures  us  that  He  will  abundantly  use  everyone  that  trusts 
Him.  By  faith  Noah  prepared  an  ark  to  the  saving  of  his 
house  :  does  not  this  give  faith  a  new  attractiveness  and  value. 
By  the  prayer  of  faith  and  the  labour  of  faith,  by  the  death  to 
self  in  Christ,  and  by  the  walk  in  the  presence  of  God,  our 
hearts  can  be  filled  with  a  love  and  a  power  that  cannot  be 
fruitless.  The  Holy  Spirit  that  came  from  our  beloved  Priest- 
King  on  the  throne  in  the  Holiest,  as  a  witness  to  God's  pleasure 
in  us,  and  to  the  indwelling  of  our  Lord,  came  specially  as  an 
enduement  of  power,  to  make  us  in  our  turn  witnesses  for  Him. 
Oh  all  ye  who,  by  faith,  have  entered  into  the  Holiest  and  its 
blessings,  go  forth  and  work  the  work  of  faith  ;  by  faith  bring  in 
those  who  are  still  without.  This  is  the  faith  that  makes  you 
an  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  according  to  faith. 

1.  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah  :  all  types  of  Jesus.  Abel :  the  righteous  one,  hated  and  slain  by  his 
brethren,  coming  to  God  with  sacrifice.  Enoch :  the  beloved  son,  in  whom  God  is  well  pleased, 
walhing  with  Him  on  earth,  and  taken  up  into  heaven.  Noah :  preparing  salvation,  saving  His 
people,  condemning  the  world. 

2.  The  one  thing  God  gives  me  is,  Jesus  the  dying  One,  the  living  One,  the  redeeming  One.  The 
one  thing  He  asks  of  me  is  faith.  Faith  will  make  me  like  Him.  Beginning  with  the  Abel-blessing 
drawing  nigh  to  God  through  death,  I  come  to  the  Enoch-blessing,  the  life  of  unbroken  fellowship. 
And  so  I  learn  the  secret  of  the  Noah-blessing,  and  become  a  saviour  of  others.  And  all,  By 
faith. 


ZbC  IbOUCSt  of  ail  437 


CI  I. 

ABRAHAM-THE  OBEDIENCE  OF  FAITH. 

XI.— 8.  By  faith  Abraham,  when  he  was  called,  obeyed  to  go  out  unto  a 
place  which  he  was  to  receive  for  an  inheritance ;  and  he  went  out,  not 
knowing  whither  he  went. 

9.  By  faith  he  became  a  sojourner  in  the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a  land  not 
his  own,  dwelling  in  tents  with  Isaac  and  Jacob,  the  heirs  with  him  of 
the  same  promise : 

10.  For  he  looked  for  the  city  which  hath  the  foundations,  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God. 

There  is  no  child  of  Adam  who  is  held  in  honour  by  such  a 
large  portion  of  the  human  race  as  Abraham.  Jews,  Christians, 
Mohammedans,  look  up  to  him  as  the  father  of  the  faithful. 
And  God  honours  him  as  His  friend  !  If  anyone,  this  hero 
of  the  obedience  of  faith  can  tell  us  what  the  secret  is  of  a  life 
of  faith.  Our  Epistle  has  called  us  to  be  imitators  of  them  who 
through  faith  and  longsuffering  inherit  the  promises,  with 
special  mention  of  Abraham  as  one,  who,  having  suffered  long, 
obtained  the  promise  (vi.  12-15).  As  Paul,  too  (Rom.  iv,  12), 
speaks  of  those  w/^o  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  our 
father  Abraham  which  he  had.  Let  all  who  have  with  purpose 
of  heart  determined,  like  Abraham,  to  be  strong  in  faith,  giving 
'  glory  to  God,  listen  to  the  lesson  of  his  life.  God  expects  from 
us,  we  do  indeed  need,  and  there  is  within  our  reach,  the  very 
same  faith  which  he  had. 

By  faith,  Abraham,  when  he  was  called,  obeyed  to  go  out 
to  a  place  which  he  was  to  receive  for  an  inheritance,  and  he 


488  Xrbe  -fcolicdt  of  Bll 


went  out  not  knowing  whither  he  went.  What  was  the  object 
of  God's  thus  deaHng  with  Abraham?  And  what,  in  real  truth, 
the  worth  and  the  blessing  of  his  obedience  ?  The  call  of  God 
was  no  arbitrary  one  ;  as  we  see  into  its  divine  meaning  we 
shall  understand  what  God  asks  of  us  and  what  our  faith  must 
lay  hold  of.  Man  stands  between  the  visible  and  the  invisible. 
His  sin  and  fall  consisted  in  his  having  turned  from  God  to  the 
world.  His  redemption  from  the  power  of  sin  could  only  be 
found  in  his  giving  up  the  world  and  setting  his  whole  heart 
upon  God.  It  was  to  train  him  to  this,  to  teach  him  to  find  his 
life  and  his  happiness  in  God  Himself,  that  the  call  came:  Get 
thcc  out  from  thy  country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  unto  the  land  that 
I  will  show  thee.  God  wanted  to  have  him  alone  with  Himself, 
separated  from  all  he  could  cling  to  or  trust  in,  that  He  might 
teach  him  to  find  his  all  in  Himself.  And  it  was  by  faith,  faith 
that  not  only  saw  the  land,  and  the  promise  connected  with  it, 
afar  off,  but  saw  the  living  God  near  to  fulfil  the  promise,  that 
Abraham  obeyed.  The  call  of  God  is  ever  accompanied  by  the 
promise ;  true  faith  in  the  promise  is  ever  joined  to  obedience  to 
the  call.  Obedience  is  of  the  very  essence  of  faith.  Faith  is 
always  the  power  by  which  a  man  gives  himself  up  to  an  unseen 
object,  and  receives  it  into  his  heart  and  being.  It  is  in  the  very 
nature  of  things  impossible,  to  receive  God  without  receiving 
His  will. 

By  faith  Abraham  obeyed.  We  have  seen  how  it  was  by 
obedience,  by  the  doing  of  God's  will,  the  Son  Himself  was 
perfected,  and  perfected  us :  becoming  the  author  of  salvation  to 
them  that  obey  Him.  Let  us  learn  that  obedience  is  the  very 
life  of  faith,  and  the  only  way  into  the  Holiest.  Let  immediate, 
unreserved,  joyful  obedience  be  the  one  thing  our  heart  is  .set 
upon.    And  let  it  specially  manifest  itself  in  this,  one  of  the  root 


^bc  ibollest  of  HU  439 

principles  of  God's  will,  His  call  to  come  out  and  be  separate, 
and  give  ourselves  to  walk  with  Him  whithersoever  He  leads. 

He  went  out  not  knowing  whither  he  went.  Say  not  that 
you  cannot  understand  what  it  is  to  come  out  and  forsake  all. 
You  do  not  need  to  know.  You  need  to  know  something  else — 
that  you  have  a  God,  who  is  watching  and  guiding  you,  and 
working  out  in  you  a  character  fit  for  heaven  and  eternity.  The 
one  great  mark  of  that  character,  of  likeness  to  the  Son  and 
fitness  for  heaven,  is  very  absolute  surrender  to  God,  to  let  Him 
be  all.  Of  that  surrender  deep  humility,  that  only  wants  to 
obey  and  to  trust,  is  the  first  essential.  Therefore  say  to  God, 
that  at  every  cost,  and  in  any  way — you  are  ready  to  obey. 
He  will  never  disappoint  the  trust  of  a  soul  fully  committed  to 
Him  and  His  will. 

By  faith  he  became  a  sojourner  in  the  land  of  promise. 
He  not  only  went  out  from  Haran,  but  into  Canaan.  And  not 
even  this  alone,  but  he  sojourned,  he  abode,  he  lived  there.  He 
not  only  began  well,  but  in  faith  and  longsuffering  he  inherited 
the  promise.  It  is  the  great  lesson  of  perseverance  again. 
Every  day,  over  again,  it  must  just  be  obedience  and  faith,  until 
God  has  brought  us  into  closer  communion  with  Himself,  and 
can  speak  to  men  of  us  or  through  us  as  those  who  are  His 
tested  and  trusted  friends — men  who  live  only  to  honour  Him. 

For  he  looked  for  the  city,  whose  builder  is  God.  By  faith 
He  saw  the  unseen  ;  in  hope  he  lived  in  the  future.  He  had 
his  heart  as  little  in  Canaan  as  in  Haran;  it  was  in  heaven  ;  it 
was  with  God.  And  we,  who  have  been  called  to  enter  into  the 
true  tabernacle  which  God  hath  pitched — oh,  shall  we  not  obey, 
and  go  out,  even  though  it  be  not  knowing  whither  we  go.  Let 
us  separate  ourselves  entirely  from  the  world  and  its  spirit ;  let 
us,  like  the  Son,  die  to  the  creature,  that  we  may  live  to  God, 


440  zbc  -boUcet  of  Bll 


A  worldly  spirit  in  the  Church  or  the  Christian  is  a  deadly 
disease :  it  makes  the  life  of  faith  impossible.  Let  us  count  it 
our  worst  enemy,  and  live  as  foreigners,  who  seek  the  city 
which  is  to  come.  Let  us  hear  the  voice  calling  us  out  to 
Himself,  to  close  fellowship,  to  obedience  as  of  the  angels  in 
heaven,  to  be  a  testimony  and  a  blessing  for  the  world.  xAnd  let 
it  be  saitl  of  us  too  :  By  faith  he  obeyed,  and  he  went  out,  and 
he  sojourned  in  the  land  of  promise,  for  he  looked  for  a  city. 

7.  See  in  Abraham  how  the  whole  life  of  faith  is  supernatural.  His  call,  the  promise  of  a 
country,  of  a  son,  of  a  seed— all  is  distinctly  divine,  above  all  sense  and  reason.  It  is  only  when 
the  soul  looks  steadily  at  the  really  supernatural  things  God  is  to  do  for  us  and  in  us  and  through 
us,  that  its  faith  will  rest  entirely  on  the  power  of  God,  and  obey  at  any  cost. 

2.  God  will  hold  as  personal  intercourse  with  thee  as  with  Abraham.  God  will  be  all  to  thee  as 
to  him.  Let  thy  life  be  supernatural ;  perfect  impotence  under  the  operation  of  divine  omnipotence 
— God  by  His  Spirit  working  out  in  thee  His  own  life. 

3.  Be  a  sojourner  in  the  land  of  promise— in  the  life  opened  up  to  us  by  the  promises  of 
Qod — the  life  in  the  Holiest  of  All,  through  the  Holy  Spirit.     Live  in  the  promises. 

4.  He  went  out,  not  knowing  whither  he  went.  Christ  is  not  only  Priest  but  Prophet, 
Teacher,  and  Leader.  Trust  Him  to  bring  thee  within  the  veil,  and  to  guide  thee  all  through  life  in 
the  new  and  living  way.  It  is  a  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding,  a  love  that  passeth  know- 
ledge, a  power  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  we  can  think,  that  marks  the 
life  of  faith  in  the  land  of  promise.     Let  us  go  out,  not  knowing  whither  we  go. 


^be  Iboliest  of  Bll  44i 


CI  II. 

SARAH.-FAITH  IN  THE  FAITHFULNESS  OF  GOD. 

XI.— 11.  By  faith  even  Sarah  herself  received  power  to  conceive  seed,  when 
she  was  past  age,  since  she  counted  him  faithful  who  had  promised : 

12.  Wherefore  also  there  sprang  of  one,  and  him  as  good  as  dead,  so  many, 
as  the  stars  of  heaven  in  multitude,  and  as  the  sand,  which  is  by  the  sea 
shore,  innumerable. 

Bv  faith  Sarah  received  power  to  give  birth  to  Lsaac.  To  judge 
by  nature  and  its  pos.sibiHtie.s,  there  was  no  hope  of  a  son.  But 
the  birth  of  Isaac  was  to  be  a  work  of  God's  power :  He  had 
promised  and  He  would  perform.  Sarah  beHeved  the  promise, 
because  she  believed  God  the  promiser  ;  by  faith  she  received 
power  to  become  Isaac's  mother;  and  of  one  who  was  as  good 
as  dead,  there  sprang-  up  as  many  as  the  stars  of  heaven  in 
multitude. 

We  are  told  wherein  it  was  that,  in  sight  of  what  was  impos- 
sible with  man,  her  faith  found  its  strength :  she  counted  Him 
faithful  who  had  promised.  She  looked  to  the  promise ;  she 
considered  Him  who  had  given  it ;  she  rested  on  His  faithful- 
ness. The  faithfulness  of  God  was  the  rest  of  her  heart  and  her 
faith. 

What  is  the  lesson  Sarah  teaches  us  in  regard  to  the  life  of 
faith,  and  the  work  that  God  would  work  in  us  through  faith  ? 
From  one  who  was  as  good  as  dead  there  sprang  as  the  stars  in 
multitude.  God  is  the  living  God,  who  delights  to  give  life  in 
death.     When  Adam  sinned,  he  and  the  whole  race  died ;  they 


442  Jibe  fboliedt  of  BU 


lost  the  life  of  paradise  and  of  God.  God's  great  work  is  to 
restore  that  life.  In  the  Old  Testament  He  showed  this  in  a  case 
like  that  of  Isaac,  by  proving  that  the  new  race  He  was  going 
to  prepare  must  have  a  life  from  Himself,  a  life  born  of  one 
as  good  as  dead.  Isaac's  life  was  to  be  in  a  special  sense  a  God- 
given  life.  In  the  New  Testament  He  showed  it  by  the  miracu- 
lous birth  of  Jesus  Christ :  God's  mighty  power  revealing  the 
divine  life  in  the  babe  of  Bethlehem.  What  God  would  teach 
us  is  :  the  new  life  must  come  from  God  ;  His  mighty  power 
must  alone  and  directly  work  it,  or  all  is  vain.  It  is  for  this  our 
faith  must  trust  Him. 

Just  as  really  as  the  life  of  Adam,  the  life  of  Isaac,  the  life 
of  Christ,  was  the  immediate  work  of  God's  almighty  power,  is 
the  divine  life  in  our  souls  His  work.  And  it  is  not  only  His 
work  in  its  beginning,  as  if  He  bestowed  upon  us  a  life  that  we 
had  to  keep  in  safety,  and  to  nourish  and  bring  to  perfection. 
No,  as  the  tree  grows  every  day  on  that  root  from  which  it 
sprang,  so  our  spiritual  life  must  every  day  stand  and  grow  in 
God  and  Christ.  One  great  cause  of  the  weakness  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  earnest  Christians,  notwithstanding  their  prayers 
and  efforts,  is  that  they  seek  to  do  the  work  that  God  alone  can 
do.  They  know  not  that  God,  whose  Spirit  dwells  in  us,  will 
maintain  our  life  in  a  divine  power,  working  in  us  that  which  is 
pleasing  in  His  sight.  If  they  knew  this  aright,  they  would  see 
that  their  one  duty  was  in  utter  helplessness,  in  deep  humility  and 
dependence,  to  wait  upon  God  and  to  trust  and  count  upon  Him 
to  do  His  blessed  work. 

It  is  this  Sarah  teaches  us.  She  knew  what  God  had  pro- 
mised. For  twenty-five  long  years  her  heart  yearned  for  the 
son  of  whom  God  had  spoken.  At  times  her  faith  was  sorely 
tried,  but  she  ever  came  back  to  this  one  thing :  He  is  faithful 


^be  IboUest  of  Bll  443 


that  promised  !  And  in  due  time  God  did  His  omnipotent 
quickening  work,  and  Sarah  received  power  to  become  the 
mother  of  Isaac  and  of  jESUS.  And  down  the  ages  her  voice  of 
witness  is  heard  :  Trust  God ;  He  is  faithful ;  He  is  the  Hving 
God ;  He  gives  hfe  from  the  dead. 

The  teaching  of  the  Epistle  speaks  to  us  of  the  living  God 
and  the  city  of  the  living  God  to  which  we  are  come ;  of  a  High 
Priest  who  liveth,  and  liveth  for  ever,  and  of  a  work  that  He 
does  within  us,  the  power  of  an  endless  life ;  of  a  new  and 
living  way,  in  which  we  are  borne  into  God's  presence ;  of  the 
law  of  life  written  in  the  heart,  and  of  a  life  within  the  veil, 
in  the  Holiest  of  All.  This  new  and  wondrous  life  it  has  revealed 
is  nothing  less  than  the  life  and  work  of  God  in  the  soul.  To 
the  question  which  is  so  often  asked.  Why  we  do  not  experience 
that  life  more  mightily,  there  can  be  but  one  answer :  We  do 
not  allow  God  in  Christ  to  work  it  in  us  ;  we  do  not  believe  in  the 
continual  indwelling  and  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Even  as 
Sarah  failed  when  she  sought  for  the  promised  son  by  giving 
Hagar  to  Abraham,  we  fail  because  we  seek  by  our  effort  to  do 
what  God  will  not  allow  any  but  Himself  to  do.  Let  us,  like 
Sarah,  come  back  from  our  self-devised  ways,  and  enter  by  the 
new  and  living  way ;  the  way  of  death  to  nature  and  to  self; 
the  way  of  life  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  into  the  life  which  God 
alone  can  maintain. 

Faith  is  the  power  by  which  we  take  up  into  our  being,  and 
yield  ourselves  up  to  and  become  one  with  the  object  our  heart 
clings  to  and  reposes  on.  God  hath  spoken  to  us  in  His  Son. 
His  Son  is  the  great  promise  to  us,  the  token  and  the  pledge  of 
what  God  will  make  us.  Let  us  look  to  the  promise,  let  us  look 
to  the  Son,  let  us  look  to  the  faithful  One  who  has  promised, 
and  with  whom  it  is  impossible  to  lie,  and  we  shall  receive  power 


444  xLbe  f5ollc0t  of  ail 


to  receive  and  bring  forth  the  new  life  that  is  of  God.  Let  us, 
above  all,  take  the  place  before  God  that  Sarah  did  as  of  one 
dead,  hopelessly,  helplessly  dead,  as  far  as  the  prospect  of  bring- 
ing forth  a  new  life  was  concerned,  and  we  may  count  upon  it, 
God  will  do  His  work.  Impotence  is  ever  one  of  the  conditions 
of  true  faith.  Sink  down  before  God  in  utter  emptiness ;  bow 
before  Him  and  wait  upon  Him,  and  walk  with  Him,  in  deep 
humility  and  meekness  of  soul,  as  having  nothing  and  being 
nothing ;  fall  down  as  dead  at  His  feet,  and  He  will  say  :  Fear 
not,  I  am  He  that  liveth,  and  maketh  alive. 

1.  Now,  bow  down,  say  to  God  that  you  trust  Him  for  the  wonderful  new  life  the  Epistle  has 
revealed  in  Christ.     Trust  Him  to  reveal  Christ,  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  within  you. 

2.  Let  every  doubt  and  fear  be  met  by  looking  afresh  to  the  promise,  to  God  the  promiser,  and 
to  the  faithfulness  of  Him  who  by  an  oath  has  confirmed  His  promise  of  blessing'and  of  the  power 
of  the  eternal  priesthood  of  Christ  to  thee. 

3.  In  this  trust  take  thy  place  of  deep  helplessness  and  dependence  and  humility.  Be 
nothing  that  God  may  be  all.  Just  yield  thyself  for  the  living  God  through  His  Son  and  Spirit  to 
do  His  mighty  work  in  thee. 

4.  The  full  blessing  of  Sarah's  faith  was  not  only  Isaac,  but  as  many  as  the  stars  in  multi- 
tude. So  with  thee.  As  thou  givest  thyself  wholly  to  be  filled  directly  from  God  Himself  with  the 
divine  life.  It  will  break  forth  in  blessing  around.  Blessing  I  will  bless,  and  multiplying  I  will 
multiply. 


Zbc  Ibolfest  of  mi  U5 


CIV. 

FAITH-AND  ITS  PILGRIM   SPIRIT. 

XI.— 13.  These  aU  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promises,  but 
having  seen  them  and  greeted  i  them  from  afar,  and  having  confessed  that 
they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth. 

14.  For  they  that  say  such  things  make  it  manifest  that  they  are  seeking 
after  a  country  of  their  own. 

15.  And  if  indeed  they  had  been  mindful  of  that  country  from  which 
they  went  out,  they  would  have  had  opportunity  to  return. 

16.  But  now  they  desire  a  better  country,  that  is  a  heavenly:  wherefore 
God  is  not  ashamed  of  them,  to  be  called  their  God:  for  He  hath  prepared 
for  them  a  city. 

Most  instructive  is  the  description  given  us  here  of  the  way  in 
which  faith  prepared  the  saints  of  old  for  the  fulfilment  of  God's 
promises.  First  comes — Having  seen  them  afar  off:  faith  was 
to  them  the  revelation  of  unseen  things.  Then  follows — And 
having"  embraced  them,  they  gladly  greeted,  welcomed,  ac- 
cepted, and  appropriated  them,  and  lived  as  those  to  whom  they 
belonged.  Then  follows  the  receiving.  Of  the  Old  Testament 
saints  it  is  here  said,  not  having  received  the  promises.  Some 
of  the  promises  they  did  indeed  receive,  as  we  have  seen  in 
the  birth  of  Isaac.  But  the  promises,  in  their  full  meaning,  they 
did  not  receive ;  this  is  our  privilege.  Seeing,  embracing, 
receiving  are  the  three  great  steps  in  the  life  of  faith. 

On  this  follows  a  description  of  the  life  in  which  their  faith 
was  made  manifest.  Having  confessed  that  they  were  strangers 

1  Embraced. 


446  zbc  fboUest  of  Sll 


and  pilgrims  on  the  earth.  Faith  is  such  a  power  that  it  rules 
the  whole  life.  It  is  the  faith  of  a  man  that  makes  him  forsake 
his  home  for  our  goldfields.  If  he  sees  his  way  to  make  a 
fortune,  and  return  to  some  great  centre  of  attraction,  it  is 
this  faith  maintains  in  him  the  spirit  of  a  stranger  and  a  pilgrim, 
whose  heart  is  in  the  home  land.  So  these  saints  proved  that 
they  were  seeking"  after  a  country  of  their  own,  that  they  had 
no  mind  to  return  to  that  from  which  they  went  out,  they 
desire  a  better  country,  that  is,  a  heavenly.  Faith  made  them 
pilgrims  and  strangers,  and  secured  them  the  divine  blessing. 
Wherefore  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  called  their  God,  for  He 
hath  prepared  for  them  a  city. 

Our  great  lesson  is:  Faith  makes  us  pilgrims  and  strangers 
here  on  earth.  Such  was  Christ ;  such  are  we  to  be.  The 
moment  we  begin  to  press  home  the  message  to  our  own 
heart,  many  questions  arise.  Will  it  not  unfit  us  for  daily  life  ? 
What  if  all  men  were  to  live  in  this  pilgrim  spirit,  as  strangers 
and  sojourners  ?  What  would  become  of  the  development  of 
the  world  ?  Do  we  not  see  that  in  science  and  politics  and 
literature  the  men  who  give  themselves  wholly  to  these  things, 
accomplish  most?  Those  who  come  to  a  colony,  and  return 
home  to  spend  their  money  there,  never  take  the  interest  those 
do  who  give  themselves  to  settle  here.  Is  the  true,  intense, 
pilgrim  spirit,  really  a  duty  for  all  ?  There  is  no  more  .subtle 
temptation  than  to  wait  with  what  God  calls  us  to  do  till  we 
are  first  informed  what  others  are  to  do,  or  what  God  is  to  do 
with  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  may  safely  leave  to  Him  who 
is  ruler  of  all,  the  All-wise,  what  will  come  of  obedience  to  His 
commands.  To  every  question.  And  what  shall  this  man  do? 
Christ's  answer  is.  What  is  that  to  thee  I  Folloiv  thou  Me.  If 
we  are  disciples  of  Christ,  each  one  of  us  must  seek  to  have  as 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  ail  ui 


much  of  His  Spirit  as  can  be.  If  we  are  to  be  led  by  Him  in 
the  new  and  living  way,  to  live  with  Him  in  the  Holiest  of  All, 
we  must,  like  Him,  live  here  as  pilgrims  and  strangers. 

Faith  makes  heavenly-minded.  As  partakers  of  a  heavenly 
calling  we  look  to  Jesus,  who  endured  the  cross  and  despised 
the  shame.  Separation  from  the  world  is  essential  to  a  life  of 
faith.  Adam's  fall  was  a  fall  under  the  power  and  spirit 
of  this  visible  world.  Christ  gave  Himself  that  He  might 
deliver  us  from  this  present  evil  world.  The  world  we  live 
in,  the  so-called  Christian  world,  is  still  the  same  that  rejected 
Christ.  While  professing  His  name,  its  spirit  of  devotion  to 
the  things  that  are  seen,  its  pursuit  of  pleasure  and  riches 
and  honour,  its  delight  and  its  boasting  of  culture  and  pro- 
sperity, is  a  spirit  utterly  at  variance  with  the  Christlike, 
with  the  heavenly  -  minded  spirit.  This  is  the  reason  why 
so  many  seek  to  grow  in  faith,  and  fail.  They  would  fain 
live  in  the  Holiest,  but  they  would  do  so  without  forsaking  the 
world.  Abraham  and  his  seed  lived  as  men  seeking  after  a 
country  of  their  own,  as  those  who  desire  a  better  country, 
that  is,  a  heavenly.  Until  the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  its  power, 
as  it  came  down  from  the  throne  of  God  in  heaven,  becomes  our 
one  desire,  and  until  we  leave  all  and  sell  all  for  this  pearl  of 
great  price,  our  faith  cannot  stand  in  the  power  of  God,  or 
overcome  the  world.  If  it  be  not  our  one  desire  to  live  as  those 
who  are  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  yea,  partakers  of 
Christ,  as  those  who  are  pilgrims  and  strangers,  and  make  it 
manifest  that  they  are  seeking  after  a  country  of  their  own, 
as  tho.se  who  desire  a  heavenly  country,  no  wonder  if  God  is 
ashamed  to  be  called  our  God,  and  our  souls  cannot  taste  the 
joy  of  a  walk  in  His  presence. 

There  is  nothing  so  heart-searching  as  faith.     If  we  profess 


448  XTbc  -fcolleet  of  Bll 


to  believe  all  that  this  Epistle  has  revealed,  let  us  prove  it  by 
following  our  Leader  in  the  new  and  living  way,  and  by  living 
with  Him  in  the  Holiest  of  All.  As  we  give  ourselves  wholly 
to  this  our  faith  will  grow  ;  we  shall  become  men  of  faith, 
marked  by  this  one  thing — a  faith  that  lifts  us  into  the  heavenly 
world,  and  makes  us  pilgrims  and  strangers  here. 

The  eye  of  faith  will  become  ever  clearer,  seeing  perhaps  at 
first,  afar  off,  what  so  many  cannot  sec — the  promise  and  the 
reality  and  the  possibility  of  abiding  continually  in  the  Holiest 
of  All  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  separated  and  made  free 
from  the  world  and  its  spirit.  The  boldness  of  faith  will  become 
ever  stronger — we  shall  greet  and  embrace,  we  .shall  claim  and 
hold  fast,  all  that  God  hath  spoken  in  Christ  of  a  life  in  the 
city  of  the  living  God  here  below  as  our  very  own.  And  \\'e 
shall  in  patience  persevere  in  doing  the  will  of  God,  knowing 
that  the  power  of  God  Himself  and  the  Son  of  God  is  surety 
that  we  .shall  receive  the  promi.se.  True  faith  begins  with 
counting  upon  what  God  has  promised,  but  it  does  not  end 
there — it  leads  into  the  actual  possession  and  enjoyment,  in  the 
power  of  God,  of  all  it  had  embraced  in  His  word.  What  God 
hath  spoken  to  faith.  His  hand  will  perform. 

7.  Note  well  the  three  steps  of  faith.  I  must  first  sec  what  God  has  promised.  I  mu^i  believe 
in  the  blessed  life  Christ  can  give  and  maintain  within  me.  Let  us  pray  for  the  Spirit's  enlighten- 
ing (Eph.  i.  14-20).  Then  I  embrace,  greet,  welcome,  claim  as  my  own  the  promise,  and  expect  its 
fulfilment.  This  in  due  time  I  receive,  in  heart  and  experience.  Whatever  Qod  has  promised  me  I 
must  expect  to  experience. 

2.  The  promise  is  ever  the  expression  of  what  God's  omnipotence  is  going  to  work ;  our  faith 
must  ever  be  the  expression  of  what  we  expect  that  omnipotence  to  work. 


?rbc  Iboliest  of  BH  449 


CV. 

FAITH  COUNTING  ON  THE  POWER  OF  GOD. 

XI.— 17.  By   faith  Abraham,   being  tried,  offered  up  Isaac:  yea,  he  that 
had  gladly  received  the  promises  v/as  offering  up  his  only  begotten  son ; 

18.  Even  he  to  whom  it  was  said,  In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called; 

19.  Accovmting  that  God  is  able  to  raise  up,  even   from  the  dead;   from 
whence  he  did.  also  in  a  parable  receive  him  back. 

As  the  characteristic  of  Abraham's  faith  we  have  here  again 
the  great  word — offering.  Abel  offered ;  Christ  offered  Him- 
self; Abraham  offered  his  only  begotten,  and,  in  doing  so, 
himself  too.  In  some  shape  or  other  intercourse  with  God, 
the  life  of  faith,  always  means  sacrifice.  In  a  sinful  world  there 
is  no  way  of  drawing  nigh  to  God,  of  coming  out  of  the  sinful 
nature,  but  by  dying  to  it,  and  receiving  a  new  life  from  God 
Himself,  or  rather  by  God  giving  His  own  life  into  the  dead 
one  to  raise  it  again.  There  is  no  way  to  God  but  by  giving  up 
our  own  life,  and  what  is  as  dear  as  life,  unto  death. 

This  sacrifice  is  only  possible  to  faith.  The  faith  that  has 
seen  and  embraced  the  promise,  that  knows  God  as  the  living 
and  life-giving  God,  and  that  dares  claim  and  count  upon  His 
power  to  do  to  me  what  He  has  spoken,  is  the  faith  that  has 
the  courage  for  the  altar  and  the  knife  and  the  fire.  God's 
great  object  in  leading  His  people  in  the  path  of  faith  is  to 
train  them  for  ever  larger  sacrifice.     It  was  a  sacrifice  of  all  he 

held  dear  when  Abraham  left  his  kindred  and  his  father's  home. 
29 


450  zbe  IboUest  of  ail 


It  was  a  sacrifice  of  all  his  own  thoughts  and  wishes,  when  he- 
was  kept  waiting  for  Isaac  twenty-five  years.  But  all  this  was 
only  to  prepare  him  for  the  crowning  sacrifice — the  giving  up 
of  his  only  son,  the  son  of  the  promise,  to  the  death. 

And  what  was  it  that  gave  faith  its  strength  and  its  victory 
here  in  this  his  severest  trial  ?  It  was  faith  in  God  as  the 
almighty  One,  able  to  raise  up  even  from  the  dead.  In  the 
birth  of  Isaac  he  had  learnt  to  know  God  as  the  giver  of  life, 
even  where  he  was  as  good  as  dead.  He  knew  and  trusted  his 
God,  as  God  ivJio  quickou-th  the  dead  and  ealletJi  the  tilings  that 
are  not  as  thougJi  they  loere.  And  what  is  it  that  will  give  our 
faith  the  same  all-victorious  strength,  and  prepare  us  for  the 
same  mighty  exhibition  of  God's  quickening  power  on  our 
behalf?  If  we  arc  to  have  the  same  faith,  and  the  same 
experience  of  God,  we  must  be  prepared  to  make  the  same 
sacrifice.  Our  lesson  of  to-day  leads  us  to  the  very  deepest 
roots  of  the  life  of  faith.  The  deeper  we  arc  willing  to  enter 
into  the  death  to  self,  the  more  shall  we  know  of  the  mighty 
power  of  God,  and  the  perfect  blessedness  of  a  perfect  trust. 

In  the  faith  of  Sarah  we  saw  what  the  meaning  and  the 
power  was  of  faith  in  the  living  and  life-giving  God.  But 
y\braham  on  AToriah  carries  us  much  further.  Sarah  trusted 
God  to  supply  a  power  that  was  wanting  in  nature ;  Abraham 
to  restore  a  life  that  had  been  taken  away.  Sarah  is  the  type  of 
a  soul  that  waits  on  God  for  His  quickening  power,  as  an  act  of 
grace  and  faithfulness,  ere  it  thinks  much  of  the  death  of  .self 
With  her  the  ijuickening  came  to  meet  a  deadness  that  appears 
simply  the  result  of  the  weakness  of  nature.  With  Abraham 
all  is  different.  I.saac,  the  God-given  life,  must  be  sacrificed, 
crc  this  new  display  of  power  can  be  expected.  That  sacrifice 
was  to  teach  that  e\cn  the  God-given  life  is  still  subject  to  the 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  mi  451 


power  of  fallen  nature  ;  that  only  through  death  can  it  be 
delivered  from  the  power  of  sin  and  death  ;  that  only  so 
can  it  become  a  life  wholly  possessed  of  God.  The  first  time 
quickened  by  Him,  and  yet  under  the  power  of  sin  ;  the  second 
time,  dead  to  sin,  and  alive  to  God  in  the  perfect  life  of  eternity. 
It  was  the  symbol  of  what  was  to  take  place  in  Christ  Jesus 
and  everyone  who  is  made  like  Him  in  the  fellowship  of  His 
death. 

We  see  where  this  leads  us  in  the  Christian  life.  Even  as 
Christ  in  His  birth  received  His  life  from  the  Father,  so  we, 
too,  in  our  new  birth.  But  that  life  had  to  be  sacrificed,  ere 
He  could  enter  the  full  life  in  the  glory  of  the  Father.  Even 
so  with  us.  The  life  God  gives  us  in  the  new  birth  is  only  to 
prepare  us  for  understanding  and  deserving  and  accepting  and 
entering  into  a  perfect  voluntary  conformity  to  Christ's  death. 
As  we  see  how  much  there  still  is  of  self,  we  begin  to  learn  and 
long  for  what  is  implied  in  the  death  to  self  It  means  a  deeper 
insight  into  our  own  entire  and  complete  inability  to  do  any 
good.  It  means  a  willing  and  a  hearty  consent  to  be  and  to  do 
nothing,  and  to  let  God  be  and  do  all.  It  means  a  real  ceasing 
from  our  own  works,  and  an  entire  surrender  to  the  immediate 
and  unceasing  operations  of  God  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  for  Him  to 
work  both  to  will  and  to  do  that  which  is  pleasing  in  His  sight. 
It  means  such  a  hating  of  one's  own  life,  such  a  denial  of  one's 
self,  that  one  is  content  with  nothing  less  than  death  to  it. 

It  is  the  soul  that  seeks  to  follow  its  Lord  in  this  new  and 
living  way,  that  feels  the  need  of  the  faith  in  the  living  God 
who  raises  the  dead,  that  will  be  fitted  to  exercise  it.  It  is 
the  trial  of  faith  calls  out  its  power  ;  it  is  the  need  of  faith  calls 
down  the  power  of  God.  Oh,  if  we  did  but  hear  the  call  of  God 
to  bring  the  life  He  has  Himself  given  us,  with  all  its  blessed 


452  a:bc  ibollest  of  ail 


experience,  and  yield  it  up  to  the  death,  how  we  should  learn  to 
know  Him  in  His  mighty  quickening  power.  Instead  of  the 
life  with  something  of  God,  but  far  more  of  man,  He  who  led 
Abraham  would  bring  us  to  the  place  of  death,  where  He 
would  give  us  the  assurance  that  henceforth  His  almighty 
power  would  do  all,  and  we  should  find  our  blessedness  in 
being  nothing  and  allowing  God  to  be  our  life. 

Christian !  Abraham  offered  up  Isaac,  accounting  that 
God  is  able  to  raise  him  up,  even  from  the  dead.  Take  the 
place  of  death  ;  trust  God  who  raises  the  dead,  and  gives  life  in 
death  ;  believe  and  thou  shalt  sec  the  glory  of  God. 

/.  The  highest  manifestation  of  God's  power  is  the  raising  of  Christ  from  the  dead. 
The  highest  exercise  of  faith  by  Christ  was  in  death— He  committed  His  Spirit  into  the 
Father's  hands.  The  highest  exercise  of  faith  in  a  believer— the  daily  surrender  of  the  life 
God  has  given  us  to  death,  in  the  faith  that  He  will  quicben  it  each  moment  by  His  indwelling 
Spirit. 

2.  Before  Isaac's  birth  Abraham  had  nothing  to  lean  upon  but  the  promise.  After  it 
he  was  in  danger  of  leaning  on  Isaac:  therefore,  Isaac  had  to  be  given  up.  All  gifts  of 
God  received  in  faith  may  become  our  trust,  and  must  be  given  up  to  Him  in  a  higher 
faith. 

3.  Our  whole  life  every  day,  every  moment,  is  to  be  the  work  of  Almighty  Ood  within 
us  by  His  holy  Spirit. 


^be  fboUcst  of  ail  453 


CVI. 

FAITH  BLESSING  THE  CHILDREN. 

XI.— 20.  By  faith  Isaac  blessed  Jacob  and  Esau,  even  concerning  things 
to  come. 

21.  By  faith  Jacob,  when  he  was  a-dylng,  blessed  each  of  the  sons  of  Joseph ; 
and  worshipped,  leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff. 

22.  By  faith  Joseph,  when  his  end  was  nigh,  made  mention  of  the  departure 
of  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  gave  commandment  concerning  his  bones. 

23.  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  born,  was  hid  tliree  months  by  his  parents, 
because  they  saw  he  was  a  goodly  cliild ;  and  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  king's 
commandment. 

It  is  remarkable  how  much,  both  in  this  chapter  and  through 
all  Scripture,  faith  has  to  do  with  the  relationship  of  parents  and 
children.  In  nature  the  life  of  the  parents  is  imparted  to  the 
children.  In  the  spiritual  world  it  may  be  so  too ;  the  inter- 
course of  faith  with  God  reaches  the  children  too ;  the  man  of 
strong  faith  is  a  blessing  to  his  children.  We  have  seen  in 
Noah  and  Abraham  and  Sarah  how  largely  their  faith  in  God 
had  to  do  with  their  children.  And  here  we  find  four  more 
examples. 

By  faith  Isaac  blessed  Jacob  and  Esau.  His  blessing  on 
his  children  was  the  manifestation  of  his  faith  in  the  promise  of 
God  to  his  father  and  himself,  and  the  transmission  of  the 
blessing  to  them.  By  faith  Jacob  blessed  each  of  the  sons  of 
Joseph,  giving  each  of  them  their  place  in  the  future  that  was 
coming.  By  faith  Joseph  made  mention  of  the  departure  of 
the  children  of  Israel  saying,  "  I  die,  but  God  will  surely  visit 
you,  and  bring  you  up  out  of  this  land."     By  faith  Moses  was 


451  Sbe  "toolicst  ot  Bll 


hid  three  months  by  his  parents,  because  they  saw  he  was 
a  goodly  child.  Their  faith  in  the  destiny  they  knew  was 
waiting  for  the  children  of  Israel,  and  in  the  mercy  of  God 
watching  over  his  people,  gave  them  the  courage  not  to  fear  the 
king's  commandment.  In  all  these  cases  faith  was  the  secret 
inspiration  of  their  treatment  of  their  children,  and  the  source 
of  blessing.  V'dith  never  confines  itself  to  the  person  of  the 
believer  himself,  but  takes  in  his  home  and  children. 

And  how  is  it  that  the  Christian  parent  can  secure  this 
longed-for  blessing  for  his  children  ?  There  is  but  one  answer  : 
By  faith.  Our  life  must  be  all  faith — that  is,  the  unseen  things 
must  be  our  life,  yea,  rather,  the  unseen  God  must  be  our  life. 
The  blessing  and  the  power  are  His  ;  and  it  is  as  we  have  more 
of  God  in  our  life  and  in  our  home,  there  will  be  'the  hidden 
power  resting  on  our  children.  Faith  does  not  only  mean  a 
knowing  that  there  is  a  covenant  promise  for  our  children,  and  a 
pleading  of  it  in  prayer.  This  is  an  exercise  of  faith,  and  has 
its  great  value.  But  the  chief  thing  is  the  life  ;  faith  is  the 
making  way  for  God  and  giving  Mini  place  in  our  life.  And 
when  at  times  the  vision  tarries,  and  the  promise  appears  to 
fail,  faith  understands  this  as  only  a  call  to  trust  God  more 
completely  and  more  confidently.  As  we  hold  fast  our  con- 
fidence firm  to  the  end,  as  in  patience  and  longsuffering  we  are 
strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God,  we  shall  know  for  certain 
that  we  shall  inherit  this  promise  too.  I  will  be  thy  God  and 
the  God  of  thy  seed. 

From  the  patriarchs  we  learn  what  the  atmosphere  and  what 
the  soil  is  in  which  there  grows  such  a  faith  that  blesses  the 
children.  They  were  living  in  the  lantl  of  promi.se  as  strangers 
and  pilgrims,  or  in  I'^gypt  as  strangers  and  pilgrims  too,  longing 
for  the  return  to  the  land.     Their  whole  life  was  hope  in  God 


^'.K  IbOKCgt  of  nil  455 


and  what  He  would  do.  They  were  men  whom  God  had  taken 
hold  of,  to  prove  in  their  history  how  gloriously  He  would  fulfil 
His  promise.  And  they  had  nothing  to  live  on  but  God.  It  is 
a  law  of  nature  that  no  body  can  be  in  two  places  at  the  same 
time.  This  is  just  as  true  of  the  heart.  When  God  took 
Abraham  and  his  seed  out  of  their  country,  it  was  that  the  land 
of  promise,  the  land  of  separation  from  men,  of  separation  unto 
God,  might  be  to  them  the  training-school  of  faith.  They 
went  out  from  the  fellowship  of  home  and  family,  to  live  in  the 
fellowship  of  God.  It  was  there  they  learned  by  faith  to  bless 
the  children. 

Separation  from  the  world,  a  being  set  apart  unto  God,  the 
denial  of  self  and  its  life,  the  imitation  of  Abraham  in  his  going 
out,  of  Christ  in  His  self-sacrifice, — this  is  the  only  way  to  the 
land  of  promise  where  the  faith-life  flourishes.  To  live  wholly 
for  God,  to  hope  alone  in  God,  always  to  walk  with  God,  in  all 
things  to  hearken  to  God, — this  is  the  new  and  living  way  into 
the  inner  sanctuary,  in  which  Jesus  our  High  Priest  leads  us. 
What  the  land  of  promise  was  to  the  patriarchs,  as  the  place  for 
the  life  of  separation  and  obedience  and  faith,  that  the  Holiest 
of  All  is  to  us.  That  is  the  place  of  which  God  has  said  to  us  : 
Gei  thee  out  of  thy  land,  to  a  place  that  I  zvill  shoio  thee,  and  I 
will  bless  thee, — that  is  the  only  place  where  our  faith  can  grow 
freely,  and  God  can  prove  all  His  power  in  us,  so  that  we,  like 
they,  can  be  a  display  of  what  God  can  do.  And  that  is  the 
place  where  our  faith  will  in  full  measure  be  a  blessing  to  our 
children. 

It  is  only  by  faith  we  can  bless.  God  is  willing  to  bless  us 
to  larger  circles  than  our  own  house.  He  is  calling  for  vessels, 
empty  vessels  not  a  few,  in  which  He  can  multiply  his  blessing. 
He  is  the  only  fountain  of  blessing ;  as  our  faith  yields  to  God, 


4r.c  ;rbe  tJOlicst  of  I'll 


and  allows  Him  to  be  all.  His  blessin;<  will  flow.  Let  the 
Christian  who  would  be  a  blessing  be  a  man  of  faith, — that  is,  a 
man  who  has  nothing  and  is  nothing  in  himself,  and  in  whom 
God  has  free  scope  to  work,  and  the  blessing  will  not  be  wanting. 
Oh  that  God  might  have  the  place  that  belongs  to  Him  in  this 
His  own  world.  And  if  that  may  not  yet  be — oh  that  He 
might  ha\e  that  place  in  the  hearts  of  His  people.  And  if  it  is 
as  if  even  that  will  not  yet  be — oh  let  Him  have  that  place,  my 
reader,  in  your  heart  and  in  mine.  Let  faith  see  and  consent 
and  prove  that  God  is  all,  and  He  will  prove  that  He  is  a  God 
of  blessing  for  thee  and  all  around  thee. 

7.  Parent,  teacher,  worker,  the  secret  of  blessing  in  the  work,  the  power  to  influence,  is--faith. 
Not  simply  the  faith  in  some  promise  at  times,  but  the  habit  of  a  holy  faith  that  makes  Qod  the 
All  of  our  life.  Haue  faith  in  God  as  the  God  of  thy  life,  the  God  who  maintains'His  life  and  pre- 
sence within  thee     He  will  work  through  thee. 

2.  How  blessed  to  be  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God,  with  which  He  works  out  His  purpose ; 
to  be  a  vessel  He  fills  with  His  love. 

3.  Learn  to  regard  thyself  as  set  to  be  a  blessing,  and  let  faith  and  love  murk  thy  whole  life. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  au  457 


CVII. 

MOSES,   AND   THE  DECISION   OF   FAITH. 

XI.— 24.  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  grown  up,  refused  to  be  called 
the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ; 

25.  Choosing  rather  to  be  evil  entreated  with  the  people  of  God,  than  to 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ; 

26.  Accounting  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures 
of  Egypt ;  for  he  looked  unto  the  recompense  of  reward. 

VVe  all  live  by  faith.  What  we  love  and  live  in  we  believe  in. 
He  that  trusts  and  yields  himself  to  the  visible  and  the  temporal 
lives  an  earthly,  fleshly  life.  He  that  looks  to  the  unseen  and 
the  eternal,  and  joins  himself  to  it,  lives  a  divine,  a  heavenly  life. 
Between  these  two  faith  has  ever  to  make  its  choice.  The 
clearer  and  more  deliberate,  the  more  conscious  the  decision  is 
for  the  unseen,  the  more  will  the  faith  in  God  be  strengthened 
and  rewarded.  The  great  difficulty  in  making  the  right  choice 
lies  in  the  fact  that,  by  the  victory  which  things  seen  and  sensible 
gained  in  paradi.se,  our  eyes  have  been  blinded,  and  the  things 
of  time,  even  where  we  acknowledge  them  to  be  of  less  value, 
have  acquired,  in  virtue  of  their  continual  presence  and  their 
pressing  claims,  superior  power.  The  great  work  faith  has  to 
do,  and  the  best  school  for  its  growth  and  strength,  is  the  choice 
of  the  unseen. 


468  ^be  -fooncat  of  all 


Of  this  choice  Moses  is  a  striking  illustration.  Just  see  what 
there  was  on  the  one  side.  The  lust  of  the  flesh  :  the  pleasures 
of  sin  for  a  season.  The  lust  of  the  eye  :  the  riches  of  Egypt. 
The  pride  of  life  :  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter. 
And,  on  the  other  side,  to  be  evil  entreated,  to  bear  reproach. 
And  what  was  it  that  enabled  him  to  make  a  wise  choice?  He 
saw  that  to  be  evil  entreated  with  the  people  of  God  is  to  have 
God  as  his  portion  and  defence.  1  le  bore  the  rej)roach  of  Christ, 
in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  from  heaven,  lifting  his 
heart  above  earth.  Even  as  Christ,  for  the  joy  set  before  Him, 
endured  the  cross,  so  he  looked  to  the  recompense  of  the 
reward.  Faith  in  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  people  of  God  ; 
union  in  spirit  with  the  Christ  of  God  ;  the  assurance  of  a 
coming  world,  with  its  reversal  of  the  judgments  of  earth;— no 
wonder  that  all  this  guided  and  strengthened  him  to  the  choice 
he  made — the  good  part  never  to  be  taken  away. 

We  are  studying  this  chapter  in  its  connection  with  the 
Epistle,  and  its  teaching  as  to  a  life  under  the  leadership  of 
Christ — a  life  in  the  new  and  living  way  of  conformity  to  Him. 
leading  into  the  Holiest  of  God's  presence.  We  long  to  know 
how  we  can  grow  strong,  and  live  in  the  full  exercise  of  a  faith 
that  inherits  the  promise  and  enters  into  the  rest  of  God. 
Mo.ses'  witness  is  clear:  Let  faith  prove  itself  in  choosing,  once 
for  all  and  for  always,  at  any  cost,  the  unseen — the  reward  will 
be  sure  and  large.  hi  Abraham  we  saw  this  choice  when 
there  was  no  special  opposition  or  persecution.  This  is  the 
feature  in  Moses'  choice  we  must  notice :  with  the  danger 
threatening  us  of  being  evil  entreated,  and  bearing  reproach, 
antl  having  to  face  the  loss  of  all,  faith  must  not  hesitate  or  halt. 
To  be  evil  entreated  u  ith  God's  people,  to  bear  Christ's  reproach, 
and  count  these  greater  riches  than  all  the  treasures  of  ICgypt. — 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  ail  459 


this  is  what  faith  enables  a  man  to  do,  this  is  the  spiritual 
discipline  which  makes  faith  strong.  Faith  looks  at  everything 
in  the  light  of  eternity,  judging  of  it  as  one  will  do  when  the 
judgment  day  is  past,  and  the  glory  begun  ;  everything  is  seen 
in  its  true  value,  and  sacrifice  and  suffering  and  loss  and  trial 
are  welcomed  as  the  training  in  which  the  glad  decision,  and  the 
firm  will,  and  the  strong  character,  and  the  victory  of  faith  are 
attained. 

We  have  here  the  great  cause  of  the  weakness  of  faith  in  our 
days.  There  is  no  separation  fron  the  zvorld.  So  many  Chris- 
tians seek  to  have  as  much  of  its  pleasure  and  honour  and  riches 
as  they  possibly  can,  consistently  with  their  profession  of  religion. 
In  such  an  atmosphere  faith  is  stifled.  Many  hardly  believe,  or 
never  remember,  that  the  world,  with  its  arts  and  culture  and 
prosperity,  amid  all  its  religious  professions,  is  still  the  same 
world  that  rejected  Christ.  The  disciple  who  would  be  as  his 
Lord,  "  not  of  the  world,  even  as  He  was  not  of  the  world,"  seel^s 
to  say  with  Paul,  "  Far  be  it  from  me  to  glory,  save  in  the  cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  ivhich  the  world  hath  been 
crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world." 

How  wonderful  is  the  place  Moses  occupies  in  the  kingdom 
of  God.  A  pattern  of  Jesus  as  a  prophet,  as  a  mediator,  as  an 
intercessor,  in  his  meekness  and  his  faithfulness,  there  are  few 
of  God's  servants  that  stand  higher.  And  what  fitted  him  to 
take  this  place?  Just  this — the  choice  to  give  up  everything  for 
the  reproach  of  Christ,  Christian,  wouldst  thou  live  in  the  favour 
of  God,  and  enter  into  His  tent  to  meet  Him  as  Moses  did  ? 
wouldst  thou  be  an  instrument  and  a  power  of  blessing,  a  man 
strong  in  faith  ? — seek  to  be  perfectly  separate  from  the  spirit  of 
the  world,  refuse  its  pleasure  and  honour  and  riches  ;  count  the 
contempt  of  God's  people  and  the  reproach  of  Christ  thy  trea- 


460  ^be  t)oliC6t  of  ail 


sures.  Ask  for  the  enlightening  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  teach 
thee  what  true  conformity  to  Christ  is,  in  thy  relation  to  the 
world,  its  culture,  its  possessions,  its  friendship.  Beware  of 
judging  of  what  is  lawful  by  any  human  standard  :  Christ  alone 
can  teach  thee  what  it  means  to  forsake  all,  to  sell  all,  to  deny 
thyself,  and  take  up  the  cross,  and  follow  Him.  Count  all 
things  loss  to  be  conformed  to  Him.  It  was  in  bearing  the 
reproach  of  Christ  a  character  like  that  of  Moses  was  formed. 
This  is  the  sure  path  of  faith  to  power  and  to  blessing. 

Follow  thou  Aloses,  accounting  the  reproach  of  Christ  thy 
riches,  and  thou  shalt  share  with  him  the  recompense  of  the 
reward.  Let  US  therefore  go  forth  unto  Him,  bearing  His 
reproach. 

1.  Examine  very  carefully  u'hrrc  thy  danger  lies.  Is  it  the  friendship  and  honour  of  men  ?  Is 
it  pleasure  ?  Is  it  the  cares  of  the  world  ?  Whatever  it  be,  give  it  up.  It  is  only  an  unworldly 
spirit  that  can  be  strong  in  faith. 

2.  What  is  the  faith  that  enables  a  man  to  bear  all  and  to  sacrifice  all  ?  Nothing  but  an  eye 
that  sees  into  the  true  nature  and  value  of  things,  that  judges  of  them  as  God  does.  Yea,  rather 
that  we  see  God  to  be  all,  and  the  creature  nothing  except  as  it  leads  to  Him. 

3.  Exercise  thyself  in  this  faith  by  retirement  into  solitude  and  fellowship  with  the  invisible. 
Beware  of  too  free  intercourse  with  the  literature  of  this  world  :  its  spirit  enters  into  thee.  The 
world  knows  not  God :  make  thy  choice  and  maintain  it. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  ail  46i 


CVIII. 

ISRAEL,  AND  REDEMPTION  BY  FAITH. 

XI.— 27.  By  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  not  fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king :  for 
he  endured,  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible. 

28.  By  faith  he  kept  the  passover,  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood,  that  the 
destroyer  of  the  firstborn  shovild  not  touch  them. 

29.  By  faith  they  passed  through  the  Red  Sea  as  by  dry  land:  which  the 
Egyptians  assaying  to  do  were  swallowed  up. 

30.  By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down,  after  they  had  been  compassed 
about  for  seven  days. 

31.  By  faith  Rahab  the  harlot  perished  not  with   them  that  were  dis- 
obedient, having  received  the  spies  with  peace. 

In  these  verses  we  have,  in  five  examples,  from  the  history  of 
Israel  on  its  way  from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  the  truth  confirmed 
anew  that  in  all  that  God  does  in  redemption,  on  man's  part 
faith  is  the  beginning  and  ending.  Whether  we  look  at  His 
revelation  as  a  whole,  or  at  its  individual  parts,  everywhere  the 
one  thing  He  asks,  the  one  thing  that  pleases  Him,  the  one  thing 
that  secures  His  blessing  is — faith.  In  the  five  times  repeated 
by  faitJi  we  .see  that  in  the  greatest  variety  of  circumstances  and 
duties  the  first  of  all  duties  always  is — faith  in  the  invisible  One. 
Oh  that  we  might  at  length  learn  the  lesson :  as  there  is  one  God, 
and  one  redemption,  so  there  is  but  oneway  to  Him  and  to  it — 
faith  in  Him.  As  absolute  and  universal  and  undisputed  as  is 
the  sole  supremacy  of  God,  is  to  be  the  supremacy  of  faith  in 
our  heart.     Because,  when  faith  reigns  supreme,  it  makes  way 


462  ubc  f)0Uedt  of  an 


for  God,  and  God  can  become  within  us  what  He  is  in  the 
universe,  what  He  is  in  His  very  nature — the  all  in  all. 

The  history  of  Israel,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God,  is  a  real  type  and  figure  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  the  soul. 
In  the  illustrations  taken  from  the  beginning  of  that  history,  we 
have  some  of  the  chief  steps  of  the  Christian  life  strikingly 
illustrated.  By  faith  Moses,  with  Israel,  left  Egypt,  not  fearing 
the  wrath  of  the  king  who  would  pursue  them.  That  is  ever 
the  first  .step— coming  out,  being  separate,  parting  with  sin, 
bidding  farewell  to  Egypt,  the  land  of  our  birth,  and  not  fearing 
the  wrath  of  Satan  or  the  world.  It  is  by  nothing  but  faith 
that  this  can  be  done,  definitely  and  perseveringly.  But  faith 
can  enable  us  to  do  it,  as  it  did  Moses.  For  he  endured,  as 
seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  Here  is  the  mighty  power  of 
faith  ;  it  sees  what  others  cannot  see.  It  sees,  amid  the  thousand 
things  others  see  and  arc  guided  by,  something  infinitely  greater 
— it  sees  God.  No  wonder  it  leads  a  man  to  act  differently  from 
other  men.  On  everything  it  looks  at,  the  bright  light  of 
eternity,  of  God,  is  shining.  No  wonder  that  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  that  Vision  it  can  do  mighty  deeds,  for  it  sees  God  its 
helper  and  strength. 

Let  me  here  say  to  every  believer  that  just  as,  in  any  pursuit, 
the  eye  by  practice  can  be  trained  to  see  what  others  cannot 
see,  so  the  eye  of  faith  can  be  trained  to  see  God  everywhere. 
Abide  in  His  presence  till  the  heart  is  filled  with  it.  Recogni.se 
Him  in  every  thing  that  happens.  Seek  to  walk  in  the  light 
of  His  countenance.  Seeing  the  Invisible  will  make  it  easy  to 
forsake  the  world  and  do  the  will  of  God. 

By  faith  he  kept,  with  Israel,  the  passover  and  the 
sprinkling  of  blood,  that  the  destroyer  should  not  touch 
them.     When  faith   is  ready  for  the  first  step,  the  forsaking  of 


Zbc  Iboliest  ot  Bii  463 


Egypt,  God  meets  it  with  His  divine  provision,  and  faith  finds 
perfect  safety  and  rest  under  the  shelter  of  the  blood.  And  if 
Israel  thus  honoured  God's  word  and  trusted  in  the  blood  of  a 
lamb — oh,  shall  we  not  ten  thousand  times  more  honour  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  believe  and  claim  that  eternal  salvation 
it  brings  us.  We  have  been  taught  its  wonderful  power  in 
conquering  sin  and  death,  in  opening  heaven,  in  cleansing  and 
perfecting  our  conscience  and  heart,  and  bringing  us  nigh  to 
God  ;  let  us  open  our  whole  being  to  the  power  of  the  blood 
that  cleanses  from  all  sin.  Let  our  faith  rejoice  in  the  invisible 
God  and  the  precious  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God. 

By  faith  they  passed  through  the  Red  Sea  as  by  dry  land. 
On  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  there  follows  the  entrance  on  a 
new  life,  the  surrender  to  be  led  by  God  in  a  way  that  we  know 
not,  through  difficulties  to  us  insurmountable.  By  faith  they 
passed  through  between  the  waters  in  a  way  man  had  never 
trod,  in  a  way  that  their  pursuers  in  vain  sought  to  follow. 
Where  nature  fails  faith  triumphs,  for  it  follows  in  a  way  where 
God  leads. 

By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down.  The  strength  of 
the  enemy,  in  which  he  trusted,  in  view  of  the  impotence  of 
God's  people,  availed  nothing  before  the  power  of  faith.  When 
shall  we  learn,  in  quiet  patience  and  perseverance,  to  wait  upon 
God  our  seven  days  too,  the  circle  of  a  completed  time,  until  He 
gives  the  possession  of  the  promised  rest.  Let  our  faith  claim 
it ;  we  are  the  children  of  a  God  who  does  impossibilities  ;  we 
are  called  to  a  life  of  faith  that  expects  and  receives  them.  Let 
our  life  be — faith  in  God. 

By  faith  Rahab  perished  not.  Salvation  by  faith  was  not 
for  Israel  only  but  for  the  heathen  too.  By  faith  Rahab  was 
not  only  saved,  but  became  one  of  the  ancestors  of  Jesus,  and 


464  ^be  l)oUcdt  of  ad 


one  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses  that  tell  of  the  blessedness  of  faith. 
With  one  accord  they  call  to  us  :  Have  faith  in  God,  all  things 
are  possible  to  him  that  bclieveth.  Let  faith  be  all  with  us,  and 
God  will  be  all.     Let  God  be  all  and  He  will  do  all. 

By  faith.  Let  this  be  the  motto  of  our  life.  In  every  need 
and  perplexity,  with  every  desire  and  prayer,  with  every  work 
and  trial,  with  every  thought  of  ourselves  and  of  God,  let  this  be 
the  one  thing  we  seek — ever  to  breathe  a  living  faith  in  a  living 
God.  Once  again  I  say :  As  absolute  and  universal  and  un- 
disputed as  is  the  supremacy  of  God,  is  to  be  the  supremacy  of 
faith  in  our  heart  and  life.  We  can  only  have  as  much  of  God 
in  our  heart  as  we  have  of  faith.  And  because  God  is  All, 
and  must  be  .All  to  us,  faith  in  us  must  be  all  too. 

/.  The  old  saints  had  less  light  than  we—hoiu  is  it  they  had  more  faith  than  so  many  7 
It  is  because  we  trust  in  the  light  we  have,  as  we  hold  it  in  our  mind  and  reason.  They  were 
thrown  upon  God  and  trusted  Him.  Let  us  but  give  ourselves  over  to  the  perfect  life  Jesus 
has  revealed— what  power  faith  would  give  us. 

2.  But  notice  everywhere  how  it  was  only  in  obedience  faith  could  act.  In  leaving  Egypt, 
and  sprinkling  the  blood,  and  passing  through  the  fled  Sea,  and  going  round  Jericho,  and 
Rahab's  deliverance — it  was  all,  wholly  and  entirely,  in  obedience  that  faith  acted  and  triumphed. 

3.  Faith  is  the  power  of  the  will  choosing  God's  will,  entering  into  it  and  yielding  to  it. 
Wouldst  thou  be  strong  in  faith  stand  perfect  in  all  the  will  of  Cod. 


Zbc  IboUest  of  Bll  465 


CIX. 

FAITH,  AND   ITS   POWER   OF   ACHIEVEMENT. 

XI.— 32.  And  what  shall  I  more  say.^  for  the  time  will  fail  me  if  I  tell  of 
Grideon,  Barak,  Samson,  Jephthah ;  of  David  and  Samuel  and  the  prophets : 

33.  Who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained 
promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 

34.  Quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword  fi-om  weak- 
ness were  made  strong,  waxed  mighty  in  war,  turned  to  flight  armies  of  aliens  ; 

35.  Women  received  their  dead  by  a  resurrection. 

With  the  entrance  into  Canaan  and  the  fall  of  Jericho  the  first 
period  of  Israel's  histoiy  closes.  It  would  take  too  much  time  for 
the  writer  to  proceed  as  he  had  done  ;  he  now  mentions  a  few  of 
the  most  prominent  names  from  among  the  Judges,  the  Kings, 
and  the  Prophets,  and  then  passes  on  to  a  general  view  of  the 
very  wonderful  proofs  that  faith  had  given  of  what  it  could  do 
or  suffer.  His  desire  is  to  take  the  veil  from  the  heart  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  show  them,  what  so  many  who  know  Scripture 
history  will  never  see,  that  under  and  behind  and  within  all  the 
outward  events  recorded,  there  lives,  as  the  vital  principle,  faith 
in  God.  The  history  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  record  of  what 
God  has  done  through  and  for  those  who  have  trusted  Him  ;  on 
the  other,  the  proof  that  in  God's  leading  of  His  people,  the  one 
token  of  His  presence  and  working  was  always  the  spirit  of  faith 
which  He  gave.  Faith  in  exercise  is  the  breaking  out  of  the 
divine  life  within,  the  very  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the 
proof  of  the  presence  of  things  not  seen. 
30 


466  TLbc  Ibolicst  of  Bll 


In  mentioning  the  great  achievements  of  faith,  our  writer 
gives  three  separate  trios.  In  tlic  first  we  find  mentioned  what 
the  heroes  of  faith  had  accomph'shed.  In  combat  with  their 
enemies,  they  subdued  kingdoms;  in  ruHng  the  people  and 
opposing  evil,  they  wrought  righteousness;  in  dealing  with 
God,  they  obtained  promises.  In  the  second,  personal  deliver- 
ance from  wild  beasts,  from  the  powers  of  nature,  from  the 
violence  of  men,  is  in  the  foreground.  They  stopped  the  mouths 
of  lions,  quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the 
sword.  In  the  third,  we  have  the  experience  of  the  power  of 
faith  for  personal  strengthening:  From  weakness  were  made 
strong,  waxed  mighty  in  war,  turned  to  flight  armies  of 
aliens.  And  then  there  is  added  one  thing  more :  Women 
received  their  dead  by  a  resurrection.  By  faith  women  con- 
quered the  power  of  death.  There  is  no  power  on  earth  that 
can  stand  before  the  power  of  faith,  because  the  power  of  faith 
is  the  power  of  God  working  in  us. 

The  memory  of  the  heroes  and  heroisms  of  the  olden  time 
may  be  most  instructive,  if  we  regard  them  in  their  true  light. 
One  thing  that  impresses  us  is,  how  little  God  has  promised  to 
faith  that  it  will  be  freed  from  difficulty  and  danger.  It  would 
be  as  easy  to  God  to  prevent  the  enemy  coming  as  to  give  the 
victory  over  him.  To  do  this  would  be  infinite  loss  ;  faith  would 
never  be  called  into  exercise  ;  man  would  never  learn  to  know 
either  his  God  or  himself  as  His  child.  Every  trial  accom- 
plishes a  double  purpose.  It  gives  us  the  opportunity  of  honour- 
ing God  by  the  trust  with  which  we  wait  on  Him.  And  it  gives 
God  the  opportunity  of  showing  how  faithful  He  is  in  watching 
over  His  child,  and  how  truly  He  is  working  for  him  and  in  him. 
It  is  in  trial  that  all  the  heart  of  the  child  is  drawn  out  towards 
the  father,  in  dependence  and  humility  and  trust.     It  is  in  trial 


ZbC  IFjOUeSt  of  ail  467 


that  God  can  reveal  in  the  opened  heart  of  His  child  all  the 
tenderness  and  all  the  saving  power  of  His  love.  Without  trial 
there  could  be  no  school  of  faith,  no  growth  of  spiritual 
character,  no  strength  of  will  given  up  to  God  and  clinging  to 
Him.  Let  us  bless  God  for  every  trial,  small  or  great :  it  gives 
us  a  grand  opportunity  for  putting  the  crown  upon  the  head  of 
God,  and  of  being  made  fit  that  He  crown  us  too. 

Another  thought  of  no  less  importance,  that  comes  as  we 
think  of  the  achievements  of  faith  in  the  history  of  Israel,  is  how 
closely  they  were  all  identified  with  the  public  welfare,  with  lives 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  God  and  the  people.  Selfishness  is  the 
death  of  faith.  How  can  ye  believe  ivho  take  honour  one  of 
another  ?  As  long  as  we  seek  to  be  strong  in  faith,  for  the  sake 
of  our  own  comfort  and  goodness,  and  the  possession  of  power, 
even  if  we  dream  of  using  it  all  for  others,  when  once  we  obtain 
it,  we  shall  fail.  It  is  the  soul  that  at  once,  in  its  weakness, 
gives  itself  up  for  the  sake  of  God  and  others,  that  will  find  in 
that  self-sacrifice  the  need  and  the  right  to  claim  God's  mighty 
help.  Gideon  and  Barak,  David  and  Samuel,  they  were  all 
men  whose  names  and  whose  faith  would  never  have  been  known, 
but  that  they  lived  for  their  nation  and  God's  cause  in  it,  that 
they  were  God's  chosen  instruments  for  doing  His  redeeming 
work  in  His  people. 

The  sphere  of  God's  special  revelation  is  now  no  longer  Israel, 
but  the  world.  What  a  work  there  is  to  be  done  in  it !  Among 
Christians  and  heathen,  in  church  and  mission  and  school,  in 
temperance  and  purity  work,  in  the  great  fight  against  iniquity 
and  worldliness  in  every  shape,  in  larger  and  smaller  circles — 
what  room,  what  need  for  the  heroes  of  faith  to  subdue  kingdoms, 
to  work  righteousness,  to  obtain  promises  !  Let  each  of  us  offer 
himself  to  God    for   the   struggle.     And  as   we  do  so,  let  us 


468  XLbC  l30UC3t  Of  BU 


remember  well  the  double  lesson  :  No  faith  without  difficulties 
for  it  to  conquer.  No  difficulty  but  faith  can  surely  conquer. 
In  this  connection  let  us  cease  seeking  faith  in  our  own  interest : 
let  us  lose  ourselves  in  the  work  for  God  and  souls.  We  shall 
lose  ourselves  to  find  ourselves  back  in  God  and  His  love. 

1.  WhereToi  r,  brethren,  having  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holiest,  let  us  draw  near  in 
fulnes.s  of  faith.  Live  the  life  of  faith  in  the  Holiest  with  Ood :  then  thy  whole  life  on  earth  will 
be  one  of  faith. 

2.  Giue  thyself  wholly  to  God— thy  faith  will  have  the  confidence  to  ash  that  God  give  Himself 
wholly  to  thee. 

3.  In  the  little  things  of  daily  life  we  need  faith  as  much  as  in  larger  interests.  Faith  counts 
nothing  insignificant,  because  nothing  is  good  in  which  God  is  nut.  Faith  yields  itself  to  God  for 
Him  most  literally  and  completely  to  be  All. 

.  Remember  the  real  value  of  strong  faith  is— to  gain  victories  for  God,  to  Hue  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls  and  the  extension  of  Hia  hingdnni. 


ZbC  IboUCSt  of  ail  469 


ex. 

FAITH,  AND  ITS  POWER  OF  ENDURANCE. 

XI.— 35.  And  others  were  tortured,  not  accepting  their  deliverance;  that  they 
might  obtain  a  better  resurrection : 

36.  And  others  had  trial  of  mockings  and  scoiirgings,  yea,  moreover  of  bonds 
and  imprisonment: 

37.  They  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn  asunder,  they  were  tempted,  they 
were  slain  with  the  sword :  they  went  about  in  sheepskins,  in  goatskins :  being 
destitute,  afflicted,  evil  entreated 

38.  (Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy),  wandering  in  deserts  and  moun- 
tains and  caves,  and  the  holes  of  the  earth. 

Faith  has  a  twofold  victory.  In  one  case,  it  conquers  the 
enemy  or  the  difficulty  by  securing  its  removal  or  destruction. 
In  the  other,  there  is  no  deliverance  from  the  trouble,  and  yet 
faith  conquers  in  the  power  it  receives  to  endure,  and  to  prove 
that  its  spirit  is  superior  to  all  that  men  or  devils  can  do.  The 
triumphs  of  faith  are  often  seen  as  remarkably  in  those  who 
obtain  no  deliverance  from  the  threatened  evil,  as  in  those  who 
do.  After  the  mention  of  the  heroes  whose  faith  was  rewarded 
with  success,  we  have  here  the  mention  of  those  who,  in  the 
midst  of  suffering  that  was  not  removed,  proved  that  their  faith 
lifted  them  up  above  all  the  pains  with  which  earth  could 
threaten  them.  They  were  tortured,  not  accepting  their 
deliverance  when  offered  them  at  the  price  of  their  faithfulness, 
that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection.  Spiritual  and 
eternal  realities  were  by  faith  so  clear  and  near  that  they 
reckoned  not  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  worthy  to  be 


470  trbc  ibollest  of  Sii 


compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed.  The  triumph 
of  faith  is  seen  as  much  in  bearing  a  temporary  defeat  as 
securing  a  victory.  The  victory  of  the  vanquished  is  often  the 
highest  achievement. 

In  these  men  and  women,  leaders  in  the  noble  army  of  the 
martyrs,  rejected  and  despised  by  the  world,  God  sees  the 
heavenly  beauty  of  a  faith  that  honours  Him,  and  that  counts 
His  will,  His  favour,  flis  righteousness,  as  more  than  all  earthly 
happiness.  By  faith  they  had  such  a  sight  of  God  and  His 
good  pleasure,  that  they  could  with  joy  sacrifice  everything 
to  .secure  it.  By  faith  they  could,  for  the  joy  set  before  them, 
in  the  assurance  of  a  heavenly  recompense,  count  all  the 
pleasures  of  earth  as  less  than  nothing.  It  is  one  of  the  highest 
and  noblest  exercises  of  faith  to  suffer  aright.  And  the  blessing 
that  comes  through  suffering  is  one  of  the  richest  rewards  that 
faith  can  win. 

God  has  given  us  these  examples  of  those  who  by  faith 
triumphed  over  the  extremities  of  suffering,  that  we  might  from 
them  learn  how  to  bear  our  lesser  trials.  Their  faith  in  extra- 
ordinary suffering  must  strengthen  ours  in  ordinary.  It  is  in  the 
little  common  trials  of  daily  life  that  every  believer  can  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  these  saints,  in  the  footsteps  of  the  great 
Leader  of  our  salvation.  By  faith  alone  are  we  able  to  bear 
suffering,  great  or  small,  aright,  to  God's  glory  or  our  own 
welfare. 

Yes,  by  faith  alone.  Faith  sees  it  in  the  light  of  God  and 
eternity ;  its  short  pain,  its  everlasting  gain  ;  its  impotence  to 
hurt  the  soul,  its  power  to  purify  and  to  bless  it.  It  sees  Him 
who  allows  it,  with  us  in  the  fire,  as  a  refiner  watching  our 
l^urging  and  perfecting,  as  a  helper  of  our  strength  and  comfort. 
It  sees  that  the   forming  of  a  character  like  that  of  the  Son  of 


JTbe  iboilest  of  Hii  m 


God,  maintaining  at  every  cost  the  Father's  will  and  honour,  is 
more  than  all  the  world  can  give.  It  sees  that  to  be  made  par- 
taker of  His  holiness,  to  have  the  humility  and  weakness  and 
gentleness  of  the  Lamb  of  God  inwrought  into  us,  and  like  Him 
to  be  made  perfect  in  suffering,  is  the  spirit  of  heaven,  and  it 
counts  nothing  too  great  to  gain  this  treasure.  By  faith  alone, 
but  by  faith  most  surely,  we  can,  in  the  midst  of  the  deepest 
suffering,  be  more  than  conquerors. 

We  live  in  a  world  of  suffering.  What  a  privilege  that 
suffering,  instead  of  unfitting  or  excluding  us,  is  God's  special 
invitation,  to  trust  and  glorify  Him.  As  we  read  of  all  that  the 
men  of  faith  had  done,  more  than  one  has  thought  of  his  own 
unfavourable  circumstances  and  his  feeble  strength ;  never  could 
his  faith  reach  to  the  achievements  of  the  men  who  are  set 
before  him  as  an  example.  What  a  privilege  that  there  is  no 
suffering  so  great  and  depressing,  so  little  and  harassing,  but 
can  be  a  school  of  faith,  a  heavenly  instruction  in  the  blessed 
art  of  making  God  all ;  of  proving  that,  for  God's  will  and  sub- 
mission to  it,  we  are  willing  to  bear  all.  Faith  transfigures 
suffering,  makes  it  transparent  with  the  love  of  God,  the  presence 
of  Jesus,  the  beauty  of  holiness,  the  blessing  of  heaven. 

As  long  as  we  live  under  the  influence  of  the  world  and  the 
flesh,  all  this  appears  but  as  a  beautiful  thought,  without  reality 
or  possibility.  Our  Epistle  is  speaking  to  those  whom  it  has 
led  into  the  Holiest  of  All,  who  are  walking  in  the  new  and 
living  way  of  the  will  of  God,  of  the  obedience  and  the  self- 
sacrifice  and  the  death  of  Jesus.  It  is  as  we  tarry  in  God's  pre- 
sence, and  seek,  above  everything.  His  holiness  and  His  will, 
that  we  shall  look  at  things  as  God  does,  and  regard  suffering  in 
His  light.  Let  this  be  our  aim.  Our  passage  gives  new  com- 
firmation    to   the   one    lesson :     By  faith    alone !      Would    you 


472  ZbC  DOllCSt  Of  Hll 


please  God,  would  you  conquer  sin  and  the  world,  would  you  be 
holy  and  perfect,  would  you  live  as  the  heir  of  heaven  and 
eternity, — live  as  a  man  of  faith,  meet  every  trial  in  the  spirit  of 
a  joyful  faith  in  God  ;  every  trial  will  make  thee  more  meet  for, 
and  bring  thee  nearer  to,  God's  blessed  presence. 

/.  In  the  Old  Testament  prosperity  was  promised.  And  yet  faith  could  endure  adversity.  In 
the  New,  we  are  taught  to  expect  adversity :  the  cross  is  the  symbol  of  our  faith  ;  the  Man  of 
Sorrows  is  our  Leader ;  how  much  more  ought  we  to  be  able  to  endure. 

2.  Let  eucry  suffering  one,  everyone  who  is  bound  to  a  sich-bed  or  bowed  down  under  some 
cross,  learn  to  believe  that  in  the  affliction  we  can  greatly  glorify  God  by  faith,  and  that  by  faith 
we  can  become  teachers  and  helpers  of  others,  fulfilling,  by  example  and  intercession,  in  our 
measure,  a  very  blessed  part  of  the  work  of  the  body  of  Christ. 


ttbC  IbOllCSt  Ot  Hll  473 


CXI. 

SOME  BETTER  THING  FOR  US. 

XI.— 39.  And  these  all,  having  had  witness  borne  to  them  through  their 
faith,  received  not  the  promise, 

40.  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  concerning  us,  that  apart  from 
us,  they  should  not  be  made  perfect. 

In  these  closing  verses  we  have  the  summing  up  of  the  chapter. 
The  superior  excellence  of  the  New  Testament  is  stated  to  be 
this,  that  we  have  some  better  thing,  something  perfect,  which  the 
saints  had  waited  for  but  had  never  seen.  We  are  told  of  them 
what  it  was  that  they  had,  and  what  they  had  not.  These  all, 
having  had  witness  borne  them  through  their  faith,  received 
not  the  promise.  They  received  not  the  promise.  There  were 
indeed  certain  promises  of  which  they  received  the  fulfilment  (see 
vi.  15  ;  xi.  -^i).  But  the  great  promise  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
redemption  and  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit, //;£•  better  pro- 
mises of  the  better  eovenant,  these  they  recei\'ed  not.  They  died  in 
faith,  not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen  them 
from  afar  and  embraced  them.  They  saw,  and  rejoiced  in  the 
promises,  into  the  full  possession  of  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  enter. 
They  received  them  not,  but  they  had  witness  borne  to 
them  through  their  faith  (see  xi.  2,  4,  6).  The  living  God,  who 
had  given  them  the  promise,  and  was  waiting  His  own  time  for 
the  fulfilment,  gave  them  witness  through  faith  that  they  were  pleas- 
ing to  Him.   The  witness  borne  to  Abel  that  he  was  righteous,  and 


474  trbe  Ibolicet  of  Hll 


to  Enoch  that  lie  pleased  God,  was  given  to  them  all.  God  was 
not  ashamed  to  be  called  their  God,  and  to  let  them  know  it. 
With  all  the  difference  between  their  faith  and  ours,  in  regard  to 
the  clearness  of  the  rcxelation  and  the  actual  possession  of  the 
promise,  in  this  their  faith  was  one  with  ours — the  unseen  God 
revealed  Himself  to  them  and  was  their  God. 

They  received  not  the  promise,  God  having  provided  some 
better  thing  concerning  us,  that  they  apart  from  us  should  not 
be  made  perfect.  The  two  words  here,  better  and  perfect,  are 
the  words  which  characterise  the  new  dispensation,  the  time  of 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promise.  We  said  before,  the  word  "better" 
occurs  thirteen  times.  Christ  has  inherited  a  better  name  ;  He 
has  brought  us  a  better  hope;  He  is  the  surety  of  a  better 
covenant  enacted  in  better  promises;  in  Him  we  have  the  better 
country  and  the  better  substance.  To  them  God  spake  in  the 
prophets  ;  to  us  in  the  Son.  To  them  was  offered  the  rest  of 
Canaan  ;  to  us  the  rest  of  God.  Their  high  priest  was  a  man 
who  died  ;  ours  is  a  Priest  for  ever,  in  the  })ower  of  an  endless 
life.  Their  sanctuary  was  on  earth,  and  even  that  had  its  veil  ; 
ours  is  the  true  sanctuary,  with  the  veil  take!i  away.  Theirs 
was  the  old  covenant,  in  which  there  was  no  power  to  continue  ; 
ours  is  the  new,  with  the  heart  made  new  by  the  Spirit.  Theirs 
was  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  ours  is  the  blood  of  Jesus. 
Theirs  was  a  sanctifying  cleanness  of  the  flesh  ;  ours  is  the  cleans- 
ing of  the  heart  from  the  evil  conscience.  Theirs  a  worship 
which  made  nothing  perfect  ;  in  ours  we  are  perfected  for  ever- 
more. Their  worship  was  a  witness  that  the  way  into  the 
Holiest  was  not  yet  open;  ours  is  the  blessed  experience  that 
in  the  new  and  living  way  we  have  living  access  into  the  very 
presence  and  love  of  the  l-ather.  God  hath  indeed  provided 
so}iie  better  t/iifii^'  for  us. 


XLbc  IboUeet  of  Bll  475 


That  apart  from  us  they  should  not  be  made  perfect.    The 

better  thing  God  has  provided  is  perfection.  The  word  perfect  is 
used  fourteen  times  in  the  Epistle  (see  v.  14).  The  law  made 
nothing  perfect.  Jesus  was  Himself,  in  His  obedience  and 
suffering,  made  perfect  in  His  human  nature,  in  His  will  and  life 
and  character,  that  He  might  have  a  true,  ne\\,perfccth.\xm.dir\  life 
to  communicate  to  us.  As  the  Son  perfected  {ox  evermore  He  is 
our  High  Priest,  who  having /^;ytr/^^  us  for  ever  in  His  sacrifice, 
now  brings  us,  in  the  communication  of  thdX  perfection,  into  real, 
inner,  living  contact  with  God.  And  so  He  is  the  Perfecter  of 
our  faith  ;  makes  us  His  perfect  ones,  who  press  on  unto  per- 
fection. And  our  life  on  earth  is  meant  to  be  the  blessed 
experience  that  God  perfects  us  in  every  good  thing  to  do  His 
will,  working  in  us  that  which  is  pleasing  in  His  sight.  Apart 
from  us  they  might  not  be  made  perfect ;  to  us  the  blessing  of 
some  better  thing,  of  being  msAt.  perfect,  has  come. 

My  fellow-Christians,  the  old  saints  had  only  the  promise  ; 
we  have  the  thing  promised,  the  divine  reality,  the  full  inherit- 
ance of  what  were  to  them  only  the  good  things  to  come.  The 
promise  was  sufficient  to  make  them  live  a  wonderful  life  of 
faith.  What  ought  not  the  effect  to  be  in  our  lives  of  having 
obtained  the  promises,  having  entered  on  the  possession  of  that 
of  which  the  mere  promise  stirred  them  so  ?  As  much  greater  as 
deliverance  is  than  the  hope  of  it,  as  a  divine  possession  is  than 
the  promise  of  it,  so  much  greater  is  the  better,  the  perfect 
thing  God  has  provided  for  us,  so  much  greater  ought  to  be 
the  joy  and  the  holiness  and  the  nearness  to  God,  and  the  power 
of  our  lives.     Is  it  so  ? 

If  not,  the  reason  must  be  plain.  We  do  not  accept  the 
possession  with  the  intensity  with  which  they  accepted  the 
promise.    Our  whole  Epistle  was  written  to  expose  this  evil,  and 


476  Zbe  l)o[icst  of  ail 


to  set  before  us  the  glory  of  the  better,  the  perfect  thing  God 
has  provided  for  us  in  Christ.  Shall  wc  not  listen  to  the  witness 
of  the  heroes  of  our  faith  in  the  days  when  the  sun  had  not  yet 
risen,  and  let  ourselves  be  ashamed  out  of  our  vvorldliness  and 
sloth?  If  we  will  but  yield  ourselves  to  the  glorious  perfection- 
truths  of  our  Epistle,  the  perfection  of  our  High  Priest  and  His 
work,  and  press  on  unto  it,  He  to  whom  it  has  been  given  to 
work  His  work  in  us  in  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  and  so  to 
save  completely,  will  reveal  in  us  that  better  and  perfect  thing 
as  we  have  never  yet  known  it.  By  faith  they  obtained  the 
promises.  By  faith  the  fulfilment  of  every  promise  will  be 
made  true  to  us  in  the  power  of  the  Pentecostal  Spirit,  who  comes 
from  the  throne  of  our  great  High  Priest. 

/.  Wherefore  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  consider  Jesus.  It  is  He  has  done 
nil :  it  is  He  who,  as  much,  must  do  all  now.  It  is  He  makes  the  Holiest  of  All,  and  the  entrance 
into  it,  and  the  life  there  to  serve  the  living  God,  a  living  continual  reality.  If  hitherto  thou  hast 
been  living  without  the  veil,  do  believe  God  has  provided  some  better  thing  for  thee  too. 

2.  He  does  this  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  dwelling  within  us.  Christ  redeemed  us,  that 
we  might  receive  the  premise  of  the  Spirit  through  faith.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  all-inclusive 
blessing  of  the  better  covenant.  It  is  His  to  bring  Jesus  and  heaven  and  the  power  of  an  endless 
life  into  us,  and  keep  us  in  it. 

3.  May  God  reveal  to  us  what  Abraham's  going  out  from  his  country,  what  Moses'  choice  of 
suffering  and  reproach,  what  Israel's  leaving  Egypt  means.  If  we  are  ready  to  forsake  all,  wc  shall 
Inherit  all. 


^be  tbolicet  of  mi  477 


ELEVENTH  SECTION.-xii.  1-14. 
The  Patience  of  Hope. 


CXII. 

LET  US  RUN  WITH  PATIENCE  THE  RACE. 

XII.— 1.  Therefore  let  us  also,  seeing  we  are  compassed  about  with  so  great 
a  cloud  of  witnesses,  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily 
beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us. 

The  Epistle  has  taught  us  that  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  in 
the  Christian  Hfe  is  the  remaining  stationary,  and  not  advancing 
beyond  the  beginnings  of  Christ.  It  leads  almost  inevitably  to 
backsliding  and  sin.  The  great  virtue  the  Epistle  has  sought  to 
inculcate,  next  to  faith,  is  patience,  thfe  perseverance  and  long- 
suffering  that  holds  fast  the  beginning  firm  unto  the  end,  and 
diligently  presses  on  to  perfection.  After  having  shown  us,  in 
his  wonderful  picture  gallery,  what  the  fulness  of  faith  is,  he  now 
calls  us,  in  view  of  all  the  trials  life  may  bring,  and  with  them 
the  temptation  to  grow  disheartened  and  faint,  to  patience  as 
the  virtue  by  which  faith  is  to  prove  its  persistence  and  secure 
its  reward.  True  religion  is  not  only  drawing  nigh  to  God  once 
in  the  Holiest,  but  a  life  to  be  renewed  there  every  day  ;  it  is 
not  only  the  entrance  upon  the  new  and  living  way,  but  a  con- 
tinually abiding  life  and  walk  in  it.  It  is  running  a  race  with 
patience.  We  have  seen  what  life  in  the  Holiest  is,  in  the  place 
where  the  power  of  the  eternal  life  enters  and  possesses  us.     Let 


478  XTbe  DoUest  of  ail 


us  now  look  at  that  life  in  its  visible  manifestation  as  a  race  we 
run,  and  learn  what  is  needed  to  run  well  and  win  the  crown. 

Therefore,  let  us,  Seeing  we  are  compassed  about  with  so 
great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  run  the  race.  The  first  encourage- 
ment to  run  the  race  with  patience  is  to  yield  ourselves  to  the 
influence  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses  that  encompass  us,  and  to 
follow  their  example  of  faith  and  patience.  We  had  the  word 
"  witness  "  five  times  in  the  previous  chapter :  through  faith  they 
received  ivitness.  And  so  they  become  witnesses  to  its  power 
and  the  good  pleasure  of  God  it  brings  to  the  soul.  They  all 
with  one  accord,  Abel  and  Enoch  and  Noah,  Abraham  and 
Sarah,  Moses  and  the  prophets,  as  with  one  heart  and  mouth 
witness  to  us  :  Be  of  good  courage,  fear  not ;  be  strong  in  faith, 
and  persevere.  The  victory  and  the  reward  are  sure  and  glorious. 
We  are  one  with  them  and  they  with  us.  They  could  not  be 
perfected  without  us  ;  in  us  is  to  be  perfected  what  they  began. 
They  held  fast  the  promise  when  all  was  dark :  they  plead  with 
us,  now  the  full  light  has  come,  to  hold  fast  the  faith  firm  unto 
the  end. 

Therefore  let  us  also,  even  as  they,  lay  aside  every  weight, 
and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us.  Here  is  our  second 
lesson.  One  of  the  first  thoughts  connected  with  a  race  is  the 
laying  aside  of  everything  that  can  hinder.  In  the  food  he  eats 
and  the  clothing  he  wears  how  resolutely  the  rutmer  puts  aside 
everything,  the  most  lawful  and  pleasant,  that  is  not  absolutely 
nece.ssary  to  his  succe.ss.  Sacrifice,  self-denial,  giving  up,  laying 
aside,  is  the  very  first  requisite  on  the  course.  Alas,  it  is  this 
that  has  made  the  Christian  life  of  our  days  the  very  opposite  of 
running  a  race.  The  great  study  is,  both  in  our  religious  teaching 
and  practical  life,  to  find  out  how  to  make  the  best  of  both  worlds, 
how  to  enjoy  as  much  as  possible  of  the  wealth  antl  the  pleasure 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  Bli  479 


and  the  honour  which  the  world  offers.  With  many  Christians,  if 
their  conversion  ever  was  an  entering  through  a  strait  gate,  their 
Hfe  since  never  was,  in  any  sense,  a  laying  aside  of  everything  that 
might  hinder  their  spiritual  growth.  They  never  heeded  the  word : 
He  that  forsaketh  not  all  that  he  hath  cannot  be  My  disciple. 
But  this  is  what  we  are  called  to  as  indispensable  :  Laying  aside 
every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us. 
Yes,  laying  aside  every  sin — however  little  it  seems,  however 
much  it  be  our  special  weakness — it  may  not  be  spared.  Sin 
must  be  laid  aside,  if  we  are  to  run  the  race.  It  is  a  race  for 
holiness  and  perfection,  for  the  will  of  God  and  His  favour ; 
how  could  we  dream  of  running  the  race  without  laying  aside 
the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us. 

Therefore,  let  us  run  the  race  set  before  us.  A  race  means, 
this  is  our  third  lesson,  concentration  of  purpose  and  will, 
strenuous  and  determined  effort.  It  means  that  a  man  while  he 
is  on  the  course  gives  himself  wholly  to  one  thing — running  with 
all  his  might.  It  means  that  for  the  time  being  he  forgets  every- 
thing for  the  all-absorbing  desire  —  to  gain  the  prize.  The 
Christian  course  means  this  all  througJi  life:  a  whole-hearted 
surrender  of  oneself,  to  put  aside  everything  for  the  sake  of  God 
and  His  favour.  The  men  who  enter  the  course  are  separated 
from  the  crowd  of  idle  spectators :  they  each  of  them  can  say, 
One  thing  I  do — they  run. 

Let  us  run  with  patience  the  race.  Ye  were  running  well, 
who  did  hinder  you  ?  This  was  as  true  of  the  Hebrews  as  of 
the  Galatians :  many,  many  had  gone  back.  Alas,  alas,  is 
it  not  true  of  multitudes  of  Christians  in  our  days  ?  They 
began  well,  everything  was  so  hopeful ;  but  it  would  be  utterly 
untrue  to  say  of  them  to-day  that  they  are  running  a  race  for 
eternal  life.     And  there  is  no  way  for  us,  and  those  for  whom 


480  Zbc  Ibollest  of  ail 


we  labour,  to  be  saved  this  terrible  fate  but  for  us  to  learn  the 
lesson  which  this  word  Patience  (endurance,^  perseverance),  is 
meant  to  teach  us.  Under  the  inspiring  influence  of  the  cloud 
of  witnesses,  to  lay  aside  every  weight  and  sin,  to  enter  and 
begin  the  race  is  not  enough — we  must  run  with  patience.  Day 
by  day,  our  separation  from  the  world  and  sin,  our  giving  up  of 
every  weight  and  every  sin,  must  be  renewed.  Day  by  day  our 
desire  and  our  will  to  liv^e  wholly  for  God  must  be  reaffirmed. 
Day  b)-  day  we  must  wait  on  God  afresh,  to  receive  grace  with 
all  our  heart  and  all  our  strength  ;  with  undivided  purpose  and 
in  the  boldness  of  faith,  still  to  run  in  the  race  for  God.  There- 
fore let  us  also  run  the  race  with  patience. 

1.  Get  clear  hold  of  the  three  elements  of  success  in  a  race  :  self-denial,  that  gives  tip  every- 
thing that  hinders  ;  decision,  that  puts  the  whole  heart  into  the  work,  and  runs  ;  patience,  that  day 
by  day  afresh  enters  the  course. 

2.  It  is  the  heart  of  him  that  runs  that  is  the  power  that  urges  him  on.  Whether  it  be  for  a 
prize  or  a  pleasure— his  heart  is  the  driving  power.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  only  power  that  can 
keep  our  heart  daily  fresh  and  bright  in  the  race. 

3.  The  new  and  living  way.  The  race  is  but  another  aspect  of  it,  to  bring  out  the  thought 
of  devotion  and  earnestness  and  energy. 


The  word  is  the  same  as  endured,  in  vers.  2,  3,  7. 


JTbc  IFJoliest  of  Bll  481 


CXI  1 1. 

LOOKING  UNTO  JESUS. 

XII.— 2.  Let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking 
unto  Jesus  the  author  i  and  perfecter  of  owe  faith,  who  for  the  joy  that  was 
set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despising  shame,  and  hath  sat  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God. 

The  practical  and  the  contemplative  Christian  life  are  often 
spoken  of  as  if  they  were  at  variance.  Here  we  see  them  in 
their  perfect  harmony.  Let  us  run — there  we  have  intense 
exertion,  claiming  body  and  soul ;  looking  to  Jesus— there  we 
have  the  inner  life  of  the  spirit,  a  heart  always  fixed  on  Jesus  in 
faith  and  worship,  drawing  inspiration  and  strength  from  His 
example  and  His  love.  Let  us  run,  looking  to  Jesus.  Let  all 
that  we  have  learnt  of  Him  in  the  Epistle,  all  the  faith  and  joy 
with  which  we  have  seen  and  considered  Him,  bear  this  fruit: 
let  us  with  patience,  perseverance,  run  the  race. 

Looking  unto  Jesus,  the  Leader  and  Perfecter  of  our  faith. 
Jesus  is  the  Leader  of  our  salvation  (ii.  lo),  the  Forerunner, 
who  hath  entered  within  the  veil  for  us,  leaving  behind  His 
track  and  footsteps  for  us  to  walk  in.  This  is  the  new  and 
living  way  which,  through  obedience  and  death,  leads  to  life 
and  to  God.  And  so  He  is  the  Leader  of  our  faith,  too.  He 
leads  in  the  way  of  faith,  He  walked  in  it  Himself,  He  opened 
it  for  us.  He  draws  and  helps  us  in  it.     The  old  saints  had  given 

^  Leader. 
31 


482  ZTbe  IboUest  of  au 


us  examples  of  faith  ;  Jesus  is  the  Leader  oi  our  faith,  the  faith 
that  through  death  enters  into  resurrection  Hfe  and  the  HoHest 
of  All,  that  better  and  perfect  thing  which  God  hath  provided 
for  us. 

The  Leader  and  Perfecter  of  our  faith.  Jesus  is  the  Perfecter 
of  our  faith.  He  perfected  it  in  His  own  person,  by  acting  it 
out  to  its  fullest  possibility,  when  in  the  darkness  of  death  He 
entrusted  His  Spirit  into  His  Father's  liands.  He  perfected  it 
when  He  was  Himself  perfected  by  it,  and  prov-cd  that  faith  is 
the  highest  perfection,  because  it  gives  God  room  to  be  all. 
He  perfected  it  when,  having  perfected  us  in  Himself,  He  became 
the  perfect  object  for  our  faith.  He  perfects  it  in  us,  because  He 
who  is  the  perfect  object  of  our  faith  is  the  living  One,  who  lives 
and  works  in  us  in  the  power  of  our  endless  life.'  He  is  thc 
P  erf ccter  of  faith — the  faith  that  looks  away  to  Him  the  perfect 
One  and  the  Perfecter,  is  the  secret  of  Christian  perfection.  He 
has  not  only  perfected  Himself  and  us,  He  perfects  our  faith  too. 
Let  us  entrust  our  faith  to  Him  above  everything ;  He  will 
make  it  His  care,  the  chief  and  most  blessed  work  of  His 
Spirit.  Let  US  run,  looking  to  Jesus;  in  His  life  on  earth  the 
Leader,  in  His  glory  on  the  throne  the  Perfecter,  of  our  faith. 
Let  us  look  to  Jesus.  There  is  life  in  a  look,  and  power  too ;  the 
life  and  the  power  of  a  divine  transformation,  in  which,  as  we 
behold,  we  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glor\-  to  glory. 

Let  us  run,  looking  to  Jesus,  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  Him.  Like  Moses,  He  had  respect  unto  the  recompense 
of  the  reward.  He  triumphed  over  suffering  and  death  by  the 
faith  that  lived  in  the  future  and  the  unseen.  It  was  in  faith  He 
lived  and  endured  and  conquered.  Who  for  the  joy  that  was 
set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despising  shame,  and  hath 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.     Let  us  look 


Zbe  fbolicst  of  Bll  483 


to  Jesus  in  His  path  on  earth,  and  on  His  throne  in  glory.  In  His 
path  on  earth,  as  He  endured  the  cross.  He  is  the  Leader  of  our 
faith,  only  in  the  path  in  which  he  walked  Himself.  In  His  life 
of  self-denial  and  humility,  of  obedience  and  death,  He  showed 
us  that  there  is  no  way  to  God  but  that  of  sacrifice,  resisting  the 
world  and  self  unto  death  ;  no  way  of  deliverance  from  fallen 
nature  but  by  dying  to  it.  He  is  the  Perfecter  of  our  faith,  as 
He  sits  on  the  throne.  Looking  to  Him  we  see  what  the  sure 
reward  is  of  dying  with  Him,  what  the  divine  power  and  glory 
are  to  which  He  invites  our  trust  and  the  committal  of  our 
souls,  what  the  heavenly  life  is  that  His  Spirit  will  bring  down 
into  our  hearts.  Let  every  thought  of  Him  on  the  throne 
remind  us  of  the  path  that  brought  Him  there  and  brings  us 
too  ;  and  every  thought  again  of  Him  in  that  path  of  trial  lift 
our  hearts  in  loving,  steady  gaze  to  the  throne,  where  He 
reigns,  to  communicate  to  us,  in  unbroken  continuity,  the  power 
of  His  glorified  life,  His  complete  and  eternal  salvation. 

Yes,  let  us  run,  looking  to  Jesus.  Looking,  not  to  ourselves 
or  our  sins,  but  to  Him  who  hath  put  away  sin  for  ever.  Not  to 
ourselves  or  our  faith,  whether  in  its  weakness  or  its  strength, 
but  to  Him  whose  presence  is  the  life  of  our  faith.  Not  to  the 
world  or  its  temptations,  but  to  Him  who  hath  said  :  Be  of  good 
cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world.  Not  to  Satan  or  his  threats, 
but  to  Him  who  hath  brought  him  to  naught.  Not  to  men, 
their  fear  or  their  favour,  but  to  Jesus,  the  God-Man,  Immanuel, 
God  with  us,  our  Brother  and  our  King.  Looking  to  Jesus  and 
Jesus  alone. 

Looking  to  Him  always  and  in  all.  In  trial  and  trouble,  as 
in  joy  and  prosperity  ;  in  solitude  and  repose,  as  in  company 
and  business  ;  in  religious  worship,  as  in  daily  life  ; — always,  only, 
looking  to  Jesus.     Looking  to  Him,  to  see  what  He  is,  to  hear 


484  Zbc  fboUcet  of  ail 


what  He  speaks,  to  do  what  He  says,  to  follow  where  He  leads, 
to  trust  for  all  He  waits  to  give.  Looking  to  Him  and  His  love, 
till  my  heart  burns  with  that  love.  Looking  to  Him,  till  His  eye 
meets  mine,  and  I  know  that  He  watches  over  me.  Looking  to 
Him  in  the  power  of  His  love  and  Spirit,  knowing  that  He 
Himself  is  drawing  me  to  Himself,  leading  and  perfecting  my 
faith.  Looking  to  Him,  to  be  changed  into  His  likeness  from 
glory  to  glory.  Let  us  run  the  race  with  patience,  looking  to 
Jesus. 

1.  "Looking:  to  Jesus,  with  the  look  of  faith,  because  our  salvation  is  in  Him  alone;  with 
the  look  of  love,  because  He  alone  can  satisfy  our  heart;  with  the  look  of  strong  desire, 
longing  to  know  Him  better;  with  the  look  of  soul  devotion,  waiting  only  to  know  His  will; 
with  the  look  of  gladness,  because  we  know  He  loves  us  ;  with  the  look  of  wonder  and  admiration, 
because  He  is  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  our  Lord  and  our  God.", 

2.  Let  us  say  it  once  again  :  the  whole  secret  of  the  Christian  life  consists  in  the  personal 
relationship  to  Jesus.  Not  what  Jesus  has  done  or  does  for  me  can  be  my  salvation,  except 
as  He  Himself  has  my  heart,  and  binds  me  to  Himself  in  dependence  and  attachment,  and  trust 
and  love. 

3.  Let  us  run.  The  gospel  is  intensely  practical.  It  means  for  every  day,  let  us  Hue  like 
men  who  are  running  a  race  for  life,  and  laying  aside  everything  that  can  in  the  least  hinder 
them.     We  judge  everything  by  this  one  standard :  can  it  help  me  in  the  race. 


Zbe  IboKest  of  BU  485 


CXIV. 

FAINT  NOT. 

XII.— 3.  For  consider  him  that  hath  endured  such  gainsasdng  of  sinners 
against  themselves,  that  ye  wax  not  weary,  fainting  in  your  sovils. 

4.  Ye  have  not  yet  resisted  unto  blood,  stilving  against  sin: 

5.  And  ye  have  forgotten  the  exhortation,  which  reasoneth  with  you  as  with 
sons, 

My  son,  regard  not  Ughtly  the  chastening  of  the  Lord, 
Nor  faint  when  thou  art  reproved  of  him ; 
For  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth, 
And  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth. 

It  is  ever  still  the  danger  of  discouragement  and  backsliding 
that  the  writer  seeks  to  avert.  In  these  verses  we  find  the  words, 
Faint  not,  twice  used,  and  twice  the  way  is  pointed  out  to  be 
kept  from  it.  The  first  time  the  word  is  used  in  connection 
with  the  considering  of  Jesus,  our  Example  and  Leader,  The 
second  time,  with  the  teaching,  that  it  is  God  from  whom  all 
affliction  comes.  In  affliction,  look  to  Jesus  as  our  Forerunner, 
who  was  Himself  so  tried  ;  to  God  as  our  Father,  who  has 
appointed  the  trial,  as  the  safeguard  against  fainting. 

For  consider  Him  that  hath  endured  such  gainsaying  of 
sinners  against  Himself,  that  ye  wax  not  weary,  fainting  in 
your  souls.  We  have  previously  had  the  injunction  (iii.  i): 
Consider  Jesus,  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  profession— 
that  pointed  to  the  work  He  did  for  us.  Here  it  is :  Consider 
Him  in  His  sufferance  and  patient  endurance.  The  thought 
that  He  suffered  like  you,  that  you  are  suffering  like  Him,  will 


186  Zbc  Ibollcst  of  BlI 


give  courage  and  patience.  Consider  II tm.  It  will  remind  you 
how  necessary  suffering  is.  If  He  could  not  be  perfected  with- 
out it,  how  much  more  we.  If  suffering  wrought  such  blessing 
in  Him,  how  surely  in  us  too,  for  whose  sake  He  was  made 
perfect,  to  whom  God  has  given  Him  as  a  Leader  in  the  path  that 
leads  through  suffering  to  glory.  We  may  be  sure  of  it,  all  that 
is  most  precious  in  a  Christlike  character — the  virtues  that  were 
perfected  in  Him  through  suffering,  the  meekness  and  lowliness 
of  heart,  the  gentleness  and  patience  and  submission  of  the  Lamb 
of  God,  will  come  to  us  too  if  we  will  but  consider  Him.  Look- 
ing to  Jesus,  the  suffering  One,  will  bring  us  the  comfort  of  His 
sympathy,  the  courage  of  His  victory,  the  blessed  consciousness 
of  conformity  to  Him.  Ye  have  not  yet  resisted  unto  blood, 
striving  against  sin:  the  thought  of  His  blood  in  Gethsemane 
and  on  Calvary,  and  the  insignificance  of  our  own  suffering,  will 
urge  us  to  endure  and  resist.  And  we  shall  neither  wax  weary 
nor  faint. 

And  ye  have  forgotten  the  exhortation,  which  reasoneth 
with  you  as  with  sons,  My  son,  regard  not  lightly  the 
chastening  of  the  Lord.  The  words  from  I'rovcrbs  warn 
against  a  double  danger.  On  the  one  hand,  we  may  regard 
lightly  the  chastening  of  the  Lord,  and  think  too  little  of  it. 
We  may  .seek  to  bear  up  against  it  with  human  wisdom ; 
looking  upon  it  as  the  lot  of  all,  counting  ourselves  too  manly  to 
bow  before  it,  trusting  to  time  and  fortune  to  bring  a  change. 
We  fail  to  recognise  the  hand  of  God  in  it ;  we  do  not  accept 
it  as  indeed  God's  chastening,  antl  lose  all  the  teaching  and  the 
blessing  it  was  meant  to  bring.  My  son,  regard  not  lightly  the 
chastening  of  the  Lord. 

Neither,  here  is  tlie  other  danger — faint  when  thou  art 
reproved   of  Him.      Be   not  discouraged  or  d(j\\  ncast  as  if  the 


Zbc  ibolicst  of  ail  487 


chastening  was  too  heavy,  more  than  you  deserved  or  are  able  to 
bear.  Beware  above  everything,  in  your  Christian  Hfe,  of  casting 
away  your  boldness,  of  becoming  impatient,  of  losing  courage. 
It  is  trial  and  vexation,  care  and  anxiety,  persecution  or  reproach 
that  often  causes  this.  Learn  to-day  the  secret  of  never  suffer- 
ing loss  in  the  soul  by  the  sufferings  of  life — yea,  rather,  of 
always  making  them  your  greatest  gain.  Link  tJiem  to  God  and 
to  Jesjis.  It  is  God  who  sends  them.  He  sent  them  to  Jesus 
and  perfected  Him  through  them.  He  sends  them  to  thee  in 
the  same  love,  and  will  make  them  thy  highest  gain.  "  Receive 
every  inward  and  outward  trouble,  every  disappointment,  pain, 
uneasiness,  temptation,  darkness,  desolation,  with  both  thy 
hands,  as  a  true  opportunity  and  blessed  occasion  of  dying  to 
self,  and  entering  into  a  fuller  fellowship  with  thy  self-denying, 
suffering  Saviour." 

For  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth, 
And  scourgeth  every  son  whom  He  receiveth. 

Sufferings  are  for  chastening.  And  chastening  is  from  love, 
a  token  of  God's  fatherly  care.  We  live  in  a  world  full  of  trial  and 
suffering.  Thousands  of  God's  children  have  complained  that 
their  circumstances  were  too  unfavourable  for  a  life  of  full 
devotion,  of  close  intercourse  with  God,  of  pressing  on  unto  per- 
fection. The  duties  and  difficulties,  the  cares  and  troubles  of 
life,  render  it  impossible,  they  say,  to  live  a  fully  consecrated 
life.  Would  God  that  they  might  learn  the  lesson  of  His  word ! 
Every  trial  comes  from  God  as  a  call  to  come  away  from  the 
world  to  Him,  to  trust  Him,  to  believe  in  His  love.  In  every 
trial  He  will  give  strength  and  blessing.  Let  but  this  truth  be 
accepted,  in  every  trial,  small  or  great:  first  of  all  and  at  once 
recognise  God's  hand  in  it.  Say  at  once :  My  Father  has 
allowed  this  to  come  ;  I  welcome  it  from  Him  ;  my  first  care  is 


488  Zbc  IboUcet  of  au 

to  glorify  Him  in  it;  He  will  make  it  a  blessing.  We  may 
be  sure  of  tiiis  ;  let  us  by  faith  rejoice  in  it.  The  salvation  God 
has  provided  for  us,  the  blessed  life  in  the  new  and  living  way 
into  the  Holiest,  through  Jesus  Christ,  has  such  power  that  it 
can  enable  us  amid  every  trial  to  be  more  than  conqueror 
through  Him  that  loved  us.  "  Give  up  yourself  absolutely  and 
entirely  to  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  into  the  hands  of  infinite 
love  ;  firmly  believing  this  great  and  infallible  truth,  that  God 
has  no  will  towards  you,  but  that  of  infinite  love,  and  infinite 
desire  to  make  you  partaker  of  His  divine  nature  ;  and  that  it  is 
as  absolutely  impossible  for  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
to  refuse  all  that  good,  and  life,  and  salvation  which  you  want, 
as  it  is  for  you  to  take  it  by  your  own  power." 

7.  Consider  Him.  If  Christians  ivoiitcl  only  understand  that  Gods  word  says,  thai  it  is  im- 
possible for  them  to  Hue  the  true  Christian  life  unless  they  keep  their  eye  daily,  unceasingly  fixed 
on  Jesus.     Not  a  step  in  the  race  is  safe  if  they  are  not  looking  to  Jesus. 

2.  Consider  Him.  But  is  it  possible— is  it  not  too  great  a  strain,  an  unnatural  life— to  be 
always  looking  to  Jesus  ?  With  men  it  is  impossible  ;  with  God  all  things  are  possible.  And  all 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.     By  faith. 

3.  Yes,  but  is  such  a  faith  possible  ?  Bless  God  !  it  is  indeed.  This  is  the  open  secret  of  the 
higher  Christian  life— Jesus  revealing  Himself  so  that  the  soul  can  as  little  forget  Him  as  it  forgets 
to  breathe  or  to  see— Jesus  so  taking  possession  of  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  so  dwelling  within 
It,  that  faith  never  ceases  going  out  to  Him  who  is  above.  Lord,  reveal  Thyself  to  us!  The  soul  that, 
be  it  amid  effort  and  failure,  begins  and  gives  itself  to  consider  Jesus  in  separate  acts  of  faith 
will  be  led  on,  and  in  due  time  receive  this  deeper  blessing— a  heart  in  which,  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
looking  to  Jesus  is  its  spontaneous  and  most  natural  exercise. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  BU  489 


CXV. 

CHASTENING  AND  HOLINESS. 

XII.— 7.  It  is  for  chastening  tliat  ye  endm-e ;  God  dealeth  witli  you  as 
with  sons ;  for  what  son  is  there  whom  Ms  father  chastenetli  not  ? 

8.  But  if  ye  are  without  chastening,  whereof  all  have  been  made  partakers, 
then  are  ye  bastards,  and  not  sons. 

9.  Furthermore,  we  had  the  fathers  of  our  flesh  to  chasten  us,  and  we 
gave  them  reverence:  shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the 
Father  of  spirits,  and  live.^ 

10.  For  they  verily  for  a  few  days  chastened  us  as  seemed  good  to  them ; 
but  he  for  our  profit,  that  we  may  be  partakers  of  his  holiness. 

We  live  in  a  world  full  of  suffering.  A  great  part  of  the  daily 
life  of  many  is  made  up  of  little  trials  and  vexations.  A  sharp 
word  ;  an  unkind  judgment ;  neglect  or  ingratitude  from  some 
one  from  whom  we  did  not  expect  it ;  the  carelessness  of  a 
servant;  the  temper  of  a  husband  or  wife;  the  loss  accruing 
through  the  neglect  or  unfaithfulness  of  others  ;  the  disappoint- 
ment of  our  wishes  ;  the  accidents  that  vex  us — all  these  things 
in  daily  life  often  come  to  us  with  far  greater  temptation  and 
danger  than  times  of  persecution  for  the  faith  brought  to  the 
martyrs.  By  their  littleness  and  their  frequency  and  their 
suddenness,  they  surprise  and  conquer  us  ere  we  know.  If 
Christianity  is  to  be  a  succes.s,  if  Chri.st  is  to  save  completely, 
there  must  be  a  provision,  sufficient  and  efficacious,  to  prevent 
suffering  from  causing  discouragement  or  defeat,  to  transform 
it  into  blessing  and  help. 


490  zbc  Iboliest  of  mi 


If  it  can  enable  us  to  rejoice  in  tribulation,  to  glory  in 
infirmities,  and  to  pass  unharmed  through  trial,  it  will  indeed 
be  the  religion  man  needs  in  a  world  of  suffering.  He  that  has 
this  secret,  whereby  what  have  been  hindrances  become  helps, 
and  his  very  enemies  are  made  to  serve  him,  is  on  the  way  to 
be  the  Christian  God  would  have  him  be. 

God  has  made  such  a  provision.  First  of  all,  He  gives  His 
own  Son,  as  the  chief  of  sufferers,  to  show  us  how  close  the 
relation  is  between  suffering  and  His  love,  suffering  and  the 
victory  over  sin,  suffering  and  perfection  of  character,  suffer- 
ing and  glory.  Yea  more,  to  provide  us  with  One,  who  can 
sympathise,  who  can  teach  us  how  to  suffer,  and  who,  as  the 
Conqueror  of  sin  through  suffering,  can  breathe  His  own  life 
and  strength  into  us.  And  thus  He  comes  as  our  Father,  to 
shed  His  heavenly  light  on  our  afflictions,  and  to  teach  us  the 
lessons  our  portion  contains.  They  are  these.  Chastening  is  a 
part  of  a  father's  training,  and  one  of  the  marks  of  sonship. 
Submission  to  chastening  forms  and  proves  the  truly  childlike 
character.  God's  chastening  makes  us  partakers  of  God's 
holiness.     See  how  these  three  thoughts  arc  brought  out  here. 

Chastening  is  a  needful  part  of  a  father's  training.  It  is 
for  chastening  that  ye  endure;  all  suffering  is  a  divine 
chastening.  God  dealeth  with  you  as  with  sons ;  for  what  son 
is  there  whom  his  father  chasteneth  not?  Our  own  child- 
hood and  fatherhood  teach  it  us ;  discipline,  chastening,  and 
reproof,  in  whatever  form,  is  an  indispensable  part  of  education; 
where  a  child  needs  it  a  father  may  not  withhold  it.  In  the 
will  of  God,  and  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  sin  and  suffering 
go  together,  and  even  love  can  cause  suffering  for  the  greater 
good  of  casting  out  the  sin.  Let  the  child  of  (lod  learn  the 
lesson — suffering  is  chastening,   the    chastening   of  love.     We 


XLbC  IfoOliCSt  of  ail  491 


ought  to  spare  no  pains  to  learn  this  lesson  well ;  we  ought  to 
repeat  and  repeat  it,  until  we  can  say — Now,  I  know  it  perfectly: 
every  trial,  small  or  great,  I  will  look  upon  at  once  as  a 
messenger  of  God's  love.  If  you  thus  meet  it,  whether  it  comes 
through  men  or  yourself  or  more  directly  from  above,  as  God's 
appointment,  you  are  in  the  right  attitude  for  bearing  and  being 
blessed  by  it. 

Submission  to  chastening  forms  and  proves  the  truly  child- 
like spirit.  Furthermore,  we  had  the  fathers  of  our  flesh  to 
chasten  us,  and  we  gave  them  reverence:  shall  we  not 
much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the  Father  of  spirits, 
and  live  ?  When  the  Lamb  of  God  came  to  this  earth  to 
suffer  God's  will,  it  was  that  He  might  teach  us  what  the  place 
is  that  becomes  the  creature,  and  the  child — absolute  subjection 
to  the  perfect  will  of  love.  He  came  to  show  that  the  thing  that 
makes  life  worth  having  is  to  have  it  to  give  up  to  God,  and  to 
prove  that  humility  and  resignation  are  the  sacrifices  God  delights 
in,  and  the  sure,  the  only  path  to  God.  No  religion  or  worship 
of  God  can  be  acceptable  to  Him  but  as  He  sees  in  it  con- 
formity to  the  life  and  spirit  of  His  Son.  We  can  only  please 
Him  as  we  are  like-minded  to  Christ.  Learn,  O  child  of  God  ! 
the  unspeakable  privilege  in  suffering,  of  giving  up  thy  will  to 
God,  even  as  Jesus  did,  of  adoring  His  wisdom  and  goodness, 
and  entering  deeper  into  the  child's  spirit  and  the  child's  place 
— to  reverence  and  submit.  Chastening  is  one  of  the  marks 
of  sonship.  If  ye  are  without  chastening,  then  are  ye  bastards 
and  not  sons.  Suffering  is  not  in  itself  a  sign  of  sonship. 
An  enemy  or  a  criminal  may  be  scourged ;  even  a  slave 
chastened  as  well  as  a  son.  But  to  him  who  is  a  son,  chastening 
reminds  him  of  his  place,  and  calls  him  to  meet  this  part  of  a 
son's  heritage  in  the  spirit  and  with  the  hope  of  a  son — with 


•i92  zbc  Ibolicst  of  au 

the  assurance  that  it  will  draw  him  nearer  and  lock  him  closer 
lo  the  Father. 

Chastening  makes  us  partakers  of  God's  holiness.  He 
chasteneth  us  for  our  profit,  that  we  may  be  partakers  of 
His  holiness.  What  a  new  light  on  suffering  and  chastening ! 
He  that  makcth  holy  and  they  that  are  made  holy,  are  all  of  one. 
We  have  entrance  into  the  Holiest  of  All.  In  the  which  will  we 
have  been  made  holy.  He  hath  made  the  people  Jioly  by  His 
blood.  And  now  comes  suffering — shall  we  not  welcome  it 
when  He  sends  it  with  such  a  message — to  break  open  our 
inner  being,  and  waken  up  our  desire,  and  make  us  partakers  in 
our  inmost  life  of  that  holiness  Jesus  gives,  of  that  holiness  into 
which  we  enter  in  God's  presence.  Yes,  welcome  suffering,  if  it 
leads  us,  through  subjection  to  God's  will  and  love,  into  His 
holiness  as  our  portion. 

7.  What  can  teach  us  to  welcome  suffering  ?  A  heart  set  upon  holiness.  Suffering  is 
meant  by  God  to  mahe  us  holy.  No  one  can  welcome  suffering  except  as  he  welcomes 
the  holiness  it  brings. 

2.  "That  state  is  best,  which  exercises  the  highest  faith  in  and  fullest  resignation 
to  God." 

3.  "Receive  every  inward  and  outward  trouble  with  both  thy  hands,  as  a  true  opportunity 
of  dying  to  self,  and  entering  inte  fellowship  with  thy  self-denying  Saviour. " 


iLbc  ffjoliest  of  mi  los 


CXVI. 

YET   AFTERWARD. 

XII.— 11.  AH  chastening  seemeth  for  the  present  to  be  not  joyous,  but 
grievous:  yet  afterward  it  beareth  peaceable  frixit  unto  them  that  have 
been  exercised  thereby,  even  the  fruit  of  righteousness. 

12.  Wherefore,  Uft  up  the  hands  that  hang  down,  and  the  palsied  knees ; 

13.  And  .make  straight  paths  for  your  feet,  that  that  which  is  lame  be  not 
put  out  of  joint,  but  rather  be  healed. 

He  chasteneth  us  for  our  profit,  that  we  may  be  partakers  of 
His  holiness.  That  word  was  the  summing  up  of  all  that  there 
was  to  say  of  affliction.  Suffering  was  to  be  God's  messenger  to 
lead  us  into,  not  a  place  or  a  position,  but  a  life  and  an  experi- 
ence, into  fitness  for  and  inner  union  with  the  Holiest  of  All, 
and  the  Most  Holy  One  who  dwells  there.  Higher  honour  have 
none  of  God's  servants  than  this  one,  unwelcome  and  rejected 
though  it  so  often  be.  By  all  that  is  sacred  and  worthy  of 
desire,  the  word  would  have  us  know  and  believe  that  affliction 
is  a  blessing.  And  yet  it  does  not  ignore  the  fact  that  the 
chastisement  causes  pain.  As  an  old  believer  said,  when 
speaking  of  one  of  the  promises.  Yes,  it  is  blessedly  true ;  but 
still  it  hurts.  Therefore,  our  writer  continues.  All  chastening 
for  the  present  seemeth  to  be  grievous:  yet  afterward  it 
yieldeth  peaceable  fruit  unto  them  that  have  been  exercised 
thereby,  even  the  fruit  of  righteousness.  To  the  flesh  which 
judges  by  what  is  present  and  by  sense,  it  is  distinctly,  often 
terribly,  grievous.      Faith  which  lives  in  the  future  and  unseen, 


494  Zbc  Ibolicst  of  ail 


rejoices  in  the  assurance  not  only  of  deliverance,  but  of  the 
heavenly  blessing  it  brings. 

For  the  present — yet  afterward.  These  two  expressions 
contain  the  great  contrast  between  time  and  eternity,  of  the 
visible  and  the  invisible,  of  sorrow  and  of  joy,  of  sense  and  of 
faith,  of  backsliding  and  of  progress  to  perfection.  For  the 
present:  to  be  guided  by  it,  and  sacrifice  all  for  its  gratification, 
is  the  sin  and  the  folly  and  death  in  which  we  live  by  nature. 
Yet  afterward:  to  throw  eternity  into  the  balance,  and  judge 
everything  by  that :  this  is  what  even  the  patriarchs  did  ;  this 
is  what  Christ  taught  us,  when,  for  the  joy  set  before  Him,  He 
endured  the  cross ;  this  is  what  faith  can  teach  us  in  every 
trial.  With  that  yet  afterward  of  the  peaceable  fruit  of 
righteousness,  the  light  of  eternity  and  its  reward  shines  on  the 
least  as  on  the  greatest  of  our  trials,  and  makes  each  one  the 
seed  of  an  everlasting  harvest,  of  which  we  pluck  the  fruits  even 
here.  And  so  light  arises  upon  the  command,  Count  it  all  Joy 
when  j'c  fall  into  manifold  temptations.  We  read  it  in  the 
light  of  what  Paul  said  of  himself,  As  sorroivfnl,  yet  always 
nyoicing.  When  the  hurricane  is  sweeping  the  ocean  into 
mountain-high  waves,  down  in  the  deep  waters  all  is  serene  and 
quiet — the  disturbance  is  only  on  the  surface.  And  even  so  the 
joy  of  eternity  can  keep  a  soul  in  perfect  peace  amid  abounding 
afflictions.  For  the  present  is  swallowed  up  in  the  yet  after- 
ward of  a  living  faith. 

Now  there  follows,  on  the  strength  of  what  has  been  said  of 
God's  love  and  Mis  blessing,  the  call  to  the  Hebrews  to  rise  up 
out  of  their  dejection  and  despair,  and  gird  themselves  for  the 
race  in  the  way  in  which  Jesus  leads  us  to  God.  Wherefore 
lift  up  the  hands  that  hang  down,  and  the  palsied  knees ;  and 
make  straight  paths  for  your  feet.      Take  courage,  he  says,  and 


^be  IboUest  of  Bll  495 


gird  yourselves  for  the  race — without  it  the  prize  can  never  be 
won.  Lift  up  hands  and  knees,  choose  the  straight  path  for 
your  feet,  rouse  your  whole  being,  and  with  your  eye  once  more 
on  Jesus,  and  in  the  faith  He  inspires,  follow  Him  in  the  path 
of  endurance.  See  the  mistake  you  made  when  you  thought 
your  trials  were  an  excuse  for  despondency ;  accept  God's  mes- 
sage, that  they  are  the  very  proof  of  His  love,  the  very  means  of 
His  grace,  the  very  mark  of  His  own  Son.  Accept  them  as  a 
part  of  your  Christian  manhood  and  perfection.  Rise  up  and 
stand  forth  as  men  ready  for  the  race. 

That  that  which  is  lame  be  not  put  out  of  joint,  but  rather 
be  healed.  That  which  is  lame  would,  if  they  continued  in  their 
desponding  state,  go  from  worse  to  worse  and  be  put  entirely 
out  of  joint, — far  rather  let  it  be  healed.  As  they  lifted  up  the 
hands  and  knees,  and  roused  themselves  to  enter  the  straight 
path,  the  lame  would  be  healed, — the  courage  of  faith  would  give 
new  strength, — faith  in  Jesus  would  give  perfect  soundness. 
Yes,  to  faith  in  Jesus  the  blessing  still  comes  as  to  the  man  of 
old  :  Iminediately  his  feet  and  his  ancle  bodies  received  strengtii. 
And  he,  leaping  up,  stood,  and  began  to  walk  ;  and  he  entered  into 
the  temple,  walking,  and  leaping,  and  praising  God. 

But  rather  be  healed.  Is  there  anyone  among  my  readers 
who  feels  that  his  life  is  not  what  it  should  be,  whom  the  cares 
and  troubles  of  this  life  have  hindered,  and  who  feels  half  hope- 
less as  to  the  possibility  of  running  the  race  as  Jesus  the  Leader 
would  have — let  him  learn  from  this  word  what  he  needs.  Let 
him  take  courage  and  rouse  himself.  Lift  up  the  feeble  hands 
and  knees,  and  make  ^.traight  paths  ;  turn  at  once  boldly  to  the 
course,  the  way  Jesus  has  marked.  Yield,  surrender,  consecrate 
yourself  to  be  His  wholly  and  for  ever.  This  is  the  first  step. 
And  then,  as  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  in  the  faith  of  all  God  has 


496  vTbc  I3olie0t  ot  Ull 


spoken  ill  His  Son  in  this  blessed  Epistle  of  a  complete  salva- 
tion and  a  perfect  Saviour,  you  rise  and  step  on  to  the  course, 
you  too  will  know  what  healing  is.  Leaping  and  praising  God, 
you  too  can  enter  into  the  temple,  the  Holiest  of  All,  to  praise 
your  God,  and  abide  with  Him,  your  mighty  Keeper.  Despond- 
ing Christian  !  there  is  healing — choose  it,  take  it.  Looking  to 
Jesus,  rise,  and  run  the  race. 

/.  Yet  afterward.  The  great  word  that  hope  is  ever  using,  as  it  points  to  what  is  still 
hidden,  but  survlij  coming.  The  section  of  Patience  of  Hope  began  with  patience,  and  ends  here 
with  this  note  of  abounding  hopefulness— Yet  afterward. 

2.  The  state  of  absolute  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  of  a  naked  faith  in  His  infinite 
hue,  is  the  highest  perfection  of  which  the  soul  is  capable.  Seek  for  this  with  the  simplicity  of  a 
little  child,  judging  everything  by  the  heavenly  standard  of  value,  as  it  helps  to  bring  us  nearer 
to  God. 

3.  Be  healed.  Let  all  who  complain  of  hands  that  hang  down  and  palsied  knees,  of  limbs 
that  are  lame  or  out  of  joint,  hear  the  voice  of  Jesus  :  I  say  unto  thee.  Arise,  and  walk. 


Zbc  iboliest  of  BU  497 


THE  FIFTH  WARNING. 

Chap.  xii.  14-29. 

Against  the  Rejection  of  God's  Son. 


CXVII. 

FOLLOW  AFTER   SANCTIFICATION. 

XII.— 14.  Follow  after  peace  with  aU  men,  and  the  sanctification  without 
which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

The  Section  on  Patience  in  Tribulation  (the  Patience  of  Hope), 

is  concluded,  and  their  now  remains  the  subject  of  Love  and 

Good  Works.    It  is  as  if  the  writer  began  here  what  he  gives  in 

chap,  xiii.,  but  was  led  into  his  last  warning  by  the  thought  of 

so   many    who   fail   in   the    pursuit  of  holiness   and   fall    back. 

When  the  warning  is  concluded  he  returns  to  his  subject  in 

chap.  xiii. 

Follow  after  peace  with  all  men,  and  sanctification.     My 

relation  to  my  fellow-men  is  most  intimately  one  with  my  relation 

to  God.     In  the  Beatitudes  we  have  mercy  and  purity  following 

each  other :  Blessed  are   the  tnerciful — Blessed  are  the  pure  in 

heart.    The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pjire,  then  peaceable. 

Where  there  is  no  peace  with  men,  peace  with  God  cannot  be 

enjoyed.    Paul  writes  :  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in  yoit, 
32 


498  Jibc  -Jbollcst  of  ail 


/>e  at  peace  zoith  all  men.  In  our  summons  to  dwell  in  the  Holiest, 
u'c  remember  how  the  call  to  faith,  Let  us  draw  nigh,  was  at  once 
followed  by  that  to  love,  Let  us  consider  one  another,  to 
provoke  to  love  and  good  works. 

Follow  after  sanctification,  ///.  "  holy-making."  We  know 
this  word.  Holiness  is  the  highest  glory  of  God,  and  so  holy- 
making  is  the  being  taken  up  into  His  fellowship,  and  being 
made  partakers  of  His  holiness.  It  is  receiving  into  our  nature 
and  character  the  spirit  of  that  heavenlincss  and  holiness  in 
which  He  dwells.  Follow  holy-making,  without  which  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord.  Holy-making  is  the  spiritual  pre- 
paration, the  inner  capacity  for  meeting  the  Lord,  and  being  at 
home  with  Him.  The  passages  in  the  Epistle,  in  which  we  have 
already  had  the  word,  will  be  our  best  instruction  as  to  the 
way  in  which  we  are  to  follow  after  holiness. 

He  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all 
of  one.  It  is  Jesus  who  makes  holy.  Of  God  arc  ye  in  Him, 
who  is  made  of  God  unto  ns  sanctification.  It  is  the  living  Christ 
who  is  our  sanctification  ;  the  more  deeply  we  enter  into  His  life 
on  earth.  His  obedience.  His  doing  God's  will.  His  giving  Himself 
up  to  God  alone,  the  more  we  have  this  His  life  abiding  in 
us,  the  holier  shall  we  be.  Holiness  is  the  losing  of  self  and 
being  clothed  upon  with  the  spirit  and  likeness  of  Jesus. 

Jesus  spake :  I  come  to  do  Thy  will,  0  God.  In  which  will 
we  have  been  sanctified.  By  one  offering  He  hath  perfected 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  The  more  deeply  1  enter 
into  the  truth,  or  rather  the  truth  enters  into  my  life,  that  the 
sacrifice  of  Jesus  is  the  crowning  act  of  His  perfect  surrender  to 
God's  will  and  giving  up  everything  to  be  one  with  it,  and  that 
it  is  in  His  doing  of  that  will,  that  /  have  been  sanctified — the 
clearer  will   my  insight  grow  that  holiness  is  the  actual   living 


^be  IboHest  of  Bll  499 


in  the  will  of  God  with  my  will,  having  the  will  of  God  the 
moving  power  of  my  life.  Jesus  doing  the  will  of  God,  and 
sanctifying  me  in  it,  has  taken  me  up  into  it,  and  planted  me 
for  ever  in  it.  As  I  live  in  living  union  with  it,  doing  it  and 
rejoicing  in  it,  that  holy  will  becomes  my  holiness.  It  was  in 
the  doing  of  God's  will,  and  glorifying  God  thereby,  that  He 
was  prepared  for  the  glory  ;  the  heavenly  life,  which  He  sends 
down  by  His  Spirit  into  my  heart,  is  a  life  in  which  God's  will 
is  always  and  perfectly  done  ;  to  live  in  God's  will  is  the  true 
following  after  sanctification. 

Having  boldness  to  enter  into  the  Holiest— the  Holiness  of 
Holinesses — let  us  draw  nigh.  The  Holiest  into  which  we 
have  been  taken  in  to  dwell,  and  the  holiness  which  is  to  be 
our  characteristic,  are  closely  linked.  There,  where  God  dwells 
in  His  holiness — even  there,  is  the  dwelling  of  the  sanctified  one, 
who  enter  in  by  faith.  There  is  the  place  where  we  are  made 
holy,  where  the  Son  who  sanctifies,  and  the  will  in  which  we  are 
sanctified,  and  the  presence  of  the  Holy  One,  all  are  met  and 
known  in  power.  He  who  does  not  know  what  it  is  to  enter  in, 
and  tarry  and  worship  in  the  Holiest,  to  separate  himself  from 
the  world  and  its  fellowship,  to  hold  communion  wdth  the  Holy 
One,  will  seek  in  vain  by  his  prayers  or  efforts  to  become  holy. 
Holiness  is  found  nowhere  but  ivitJt.  God  in  the  Holiest  of  AIL 
Union  with  Jesus  the  Son  who  sanctifies  us,  union  with  the 
will  in  which  we  have  been  sanctified  by  loving  and  doing  it, 
union  with  God  Himself  in  the  Holies, — in  these  is  the  power  of 
sanctification. 

Then  comes  a  fourth  thought:  the  Son,  and  the  will, and  the 
presence ;  and — the  rod  of  God.  He  chasteneth  us  for  our  profit, 
that  we  may  be  made  partakers  of  His  holiness.  Blessed  be 
God  that  it  is  not  only  in  spiritual  things  that  we  are  to  seek 


r.oo  (Tbc  Ibolicst  of  au 


our  help  in  the  pursuit  of  holiness,  but  that  everything  that 
meets  us  in  providence  can  help  it  too.  There  is  not  a  trial  or 
difficulty,  not  a  disappointment  or  vexation,  but  is  God's  chosen 
instrument  for  making  us  holy.  Our  life  in  Jesus,  in  the  will 
of  God,  in  the  Holiest,  is  all  one  with  our  life  in  the  body  and 
in  the  world.  It  became  God  to  perfect  His  Son  through 
suffering;  the  very  least  of  our  daily  crosses  God  will  use  to 
free  us  of  our  self-will,  to  draw  us  from  the  world,  to  point  us 
to  the  example  and  spirit  of  Jesus.  Folloiu  after  sanctification  ; 
everything  in  heaven  and  earth  can  help  you  in  the  pursuit. 

Follow  after  peace  with  all  men,  and  sanctification,  with- 
out which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.  Seeing  the  Lord ! 
What  blessedness  and  what  glory  to  the  soul  that  has  once 
learnt  to  love  Him!  As  the  bride  puts  on  her  beautiful  garments, 
to  meet  him  she  loves  and  to  whom  she  is  to  be  united,  the  call 
comes  to  us  to  put  on  our  holy  garments,  to  array  ourselves  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness  to  meet  our  Lord.  Let  our  whole  heart 
respond  in  the  pra\  cr :  Lord  !  make  me  holy,  that  I  may  be 
found  ready  to  meet  thee  when  thou  comest. 

7.  This  sanctification  is  as  much  by  faith  as  justification.  Both  arc  received  in  union  with 
Christ:  the  peace  of  the  one  and  the  power  of  the  other  are  found  in  the  abiding  union  through 
an  abiding  habit  of  faith. 

2.  Follow  alter— the  same  words  as  in  Phil.  Hi.  12,  14  :  I  press  on,  //  that  I  may  apprehend ; 
I  press  on  toward  the  goal.  It  is  the  thought  of  the  race— pressing  on  after  holiness,  fellowship 
with  Qod,  with  Jesus,  with  Ood's  will. 


Zbc  fbolicst  of  ml  501 


CXVIII. 

OF  FALLING  SHORT  OF  THE  GRACE  OP  GOD. 

XII.— 15.  Looking  carefully  lest  there  be  any  man  that  faUeth  short  of  the 
grace  of  God ;  lest  any  root  of  bitterness  springing  up  trouble  you,  and  thereby 
the  many  be  defiled ; 

16.  Lest  there  be  any  fornicator,  or  profane  person,  as  Esau,  who  for  one 
morsel  of  meat  sold  liis  own  birthright. 

17.  For  ye  know  that  even  when  he  afterward  desired  to  inherit  the 
blessing,  he  was  rejected  (for  he  found  no  place  for  repentance),  though  he 
sought  it  diligently  with  tears. 

Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  one  of  you  an  evil 
heart  of  unbelief,  was  the  warning  in  chap.  iii.  And  in  chap  iv., 
Let  us  fear  lest  any  one  come  short  of  the  rest.  And  in  chap, 
X.,  Let  us  consider  one  another,  exhorting  one  another.  Here 
it  is  the  same  thought  —  Looking  carefully — the  word  really 
means  taking  oversight — lest  there  be  any  man :  each  is  not  only 
to  care  for  himself,  but  for  his  brother  too  ;  lest  there  be  any 
man — there  must  not,  through  our  lack  of  faithfulness,  be  one — 
that  falls  short  of  the  grace  of  God.  Here  we  have  again  the 
great  danger  against  which  the  Epistle  warns  us  earnestly.  It 
is  the  terrible  complaint  from  which  every  congregation  suffers. 
There  are  so  many  who,  just  as  Israel  left  Egypt,  but  came  short 
of  the  promised  rest,  for  a  time  make  an  earnest  Christian  pro- 
fession, and  yet  come  short  of  the  grace  of  God — receive  the 
grace  of  God  in  its  beginnings  in  vain  :  never  truly  become 
possessed  of  it  and  by  it.  As  it  was  true  of  the  Galatians,  with 
all  their  zeal  for  religion  and  its  forms,  so  of  these  too  :    Ve  are 


•02  XLbc  tboUest  of  ail 


fallen  away  from  grace  (Gal.  v.  4).  The  runninjj^  of  the  race  with 
patience  ;  hoHness,  or  even  tlie  earnest  pursuit  of  it ;  the  joy  and 
the  power  and  the  fruit  of  the  Christian  Hfe — all  are  wanting. 
Let  us  look  carefull)  lest  anyone  fall  short  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Three  things  are  mentioned  as  causes  and  marks  of  this 
falling  short  of  grace.  Lest  any  root  of  bitterness  springing  up 
trouble  you,  and  thereby  the  many  be  defiled.  The  root  of 
bitterness  may  refer  to  a  person,  who  by  wrong  conduct  or 
doctrine  causes  trouble,  and  leads  others  astray.  Or  it  may 
refer  to  the  error  itself,  some  mode  of  thought  or  behaviour  by 
which  the  many  arc  defiled.  The  spirit  of  the  world  ;  too  great 
interest  in  temporal  things  ;  bitterness  in  religious  differences  ; 
being  led  by  the  carnal  reason  more  than  by  God's  word  or 
Spirit  ;  giving  way  to  sin  ;  any  of  these  things  may  be  the  root 
of  bitterness,  in  regard  to  which  the  call  sounds  :  Be  careful,  look 
round,  and  watch. 

Lest  there  be  any  fornicator.  Here  a  special  sin  is  men- 
tioned. Each  church  as  a  whole  must  watch  against  this  sin, 
not  waiting  till  it  is  found,  but  looking  carefully,  and  doing 
everything  to  prevent,  lest  there  be  any.  Christians  must  main- 
tain in  society  the  high  moral  tone  which  rcfu.ses  to  condone  sin 
in  either  high  or  low.  In  all  its  members,  and  among  its  young 
people,  it  must  be  a  witness  for  purity  of  life  and  lips  and  heart. 
And  to  all  who  are  fallen  it  must  .seek,  in  the  power  of  the 
gospel,  to  offer  the  helping  hand  of  love.  Lest  there  be  any 
fornicator. 

Or  profane  person,  as  Esau,  who  for  one  mess  of  meat,  sold 
his  own  birthright.  We  have  seen  that  faith  is  ever  the  separa- 
tion from  the  visible.  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  sacrificed 
all  to  become  heirs  of  the  heavenly  city  of  the  future,  and  the 
heavenly  ble.ssing.      Esau  lived  in  Ihc  present :   for  a  momentary 


Cbc  Ibolicst  of  ail  503 


satisfaction  he  parted  with  his  blessing,  the  promise  of  God,  and 
his  inheritance  in  the  future.  And  even  so  there  are  numbers 
who  are  called  Christians,  and  yet  are  profane.  There  is  nothing 
sacred  or  holy  in  their  spirit  or  life.  They  are  absorbed  in  the 
present  of  the  possessions  and  pleasures  of  the  world.  To  speak 
of  their  pursuit  of  holiness  would  be  a  mockery.  Let  us  think 
of  such,  and  mourn  and  pray  and  labour  for  them.  Looking 
carefully  lest  there  be  any  one  of  you  a  profane  person,  like 
Esau. 

For  ye  know  when  he  afterward  desired  to  inherit  the 
blessing,  he  was  rejected  (for  he  found  no  place  for  repent- 
ance), though  he  sought  it  diligently  with  tears.  We  remem- 
ber the  yet  afterzvard  of  faith.  What  a  contrast  here,  the  after- 
ward of  the  worldling.  For  the  present  with  its  pleasures,  the 
divine  birthright,  the  promise  of  God,  and  the  future  inheritance 
is  neglected.  And  when  it  is  too  late,  when  the  heart  is 
shrivelled  up,  and  the  power  of  the  will  and  the  power  of  faith  is 
lost,  the  thought  of  something  better  is  awakened — but,  alas,  it  is 
found  to  be  too  late  !  Many  shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be 
able,  when  once  the  Master  of  the  house  is  risen  up,  and  hath  shut 
the  door  !     He  afterzvard  desired  to  inherit,  but  w^as  rejected  ! 

Looking  carefully,  lest  any  man  fall  short  of  the  grace  of 
God.  What  a  solemn  thing  the  Christian  life  is,  the  race  for 
life  we  have  to  run !  With  what  dangers  we  are  surrounded ! 
Our  daily  needs  and  our  daily  food  may  be  our  destruction.  It 
was  eating  that  lost  Esau  his  birthright.  It  was  eating  that 
lost  Adam  and  his  seed  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  was  in  refusing 
to  eat,  when  Satan  tempted  Him  in  the  wilderness,  that  Jesus 
won  back  heaven  for  us.  In  our  home,  in  our  body,  in  our 
daily  need,  the  temptations  to  ease  and  enjoyment,  to  sloth  and 
standing  still  are  ever  around  us  and  in  us  ;  let  us  take  heed 


504  XLbe  fboUest  ot  mi 


lest  we  fall  short.  Let  us  look  carefully,  and  see  if  there  arc  not 
others  around  us  who  are  fainting  and  turning  back,  and  let  us 
count  it  our  duty  and  privilege  to  care  for  them.  Let  us  be- 
seech grace  of  God  to  give  us  power  in  faith  and  love  to  be  the 
deliverer  of  our  people  and  our  brethren.  If  we  feel  powerless 
to  speak  to  others  or  to  influence  them,  let  us  lay  ourselves 
before  God  with  the  cry  that  He  would  use  us  to  save  some :  He 
can  fill  us  with  His  Spirit  and  His  love. 

?.  Looking  carefully — the  word  is  the  same  as  bishop,  overseer.  Lest  any  man.  We  are 
all  to  watch  over  each  other.  Do  we  really  take  the  state  of  Christians  to  heart?  Do  we  indeed 
look  round  carefully  and  lovingly,  to  consider  what  can  be  done  ?  Consider  Jesus !  consider  one 
another  \—the  two  commands  are  inseparable. 

2.  Afterward,  he  was  rejected  !  0  my  brother,  if  you  have  escaped  this  danger,  I  beseech  you, 
by  the  mercy  of  Qod,  think  of  those  who  are  in  it.  and  say  to  God  that  you  will  do  anything  He 
wishes  you  to  save  them  from  that  terrible  fate. 


c:be  -ffjoUeet  of  ail  505 


CXIX 

NOT  SINAI,  BUT  SION. 

XII.— 18.  For  ye  are  not  come  unto  a  mount  that  might  be  touched,  and 
that  burned  with  fire,  and  unto  blackness,  and  darkness,  and  tempest, 

19.  And  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  the  voice  of  words ;  which  voice  they 
that  heard  intreated  that  no  word  more  should  be  spoken  unto  them : 

20.  For  they  could  not  endure  that  which  was  enjoined.  If  even  a  beast 
touch  the  mountain,  it  shall  be  stoned ; 

21.  And  so  fearful  was  the  appearance,  that  Moses  said,  I  exceedingly  fear 
and  quake. 

In  confirmation  of  the  call  to  follow  after  sanctification,  and  the 
warning  against  falling  short  of  the  grace  of  God,  or  despising 
the  birthright  blessing,  we  are  now  reminded  of  what  our  true 
position  is  as  believers,  and  what  the  fulness  of  blessing  of 
which  we  have  been  made  partakers.  This  is  set  before  us  first 
by  way  of  contrast :  We  are  not  come  to  Mount  Sinai  (18-21) 
the  place  and  state  of  Israel  at  the  giving  of  the  law.  Then  we 
are  told  {22-24)  what  the  wonderful  life  is  to  which  we  now 
have  access :  We  are  come  to  Mount  Sion.  It  is  only  the 
living  faith  that  realises  our  true  position  and  privileges,  that 
will  nerve  us  in  the  pursuit  of  holiness,  and  keep  us  from  falling 
short. 

Our  whole  Epistle  has  taught  us  that  all  God's  dealing  with 
man  is  founded  on  the  principle  of  two  dispensations — the  one 
of  preparation  and  promise,  of  weakness  and  failure  ;  the  other 


•'>06  zbc  1bo[ic6t  of  ail 


of  fulfilment  and  perfection,  of  life  and  power,  the  power  of  the 
endless  life.  The  Epistle  has  taught  us,  too,  that  though  we 
now  have  our  place  in  the  new  dispensation,  we,  just  as  the 
i  lebrews,  may  be  living  in  the  old,  through  ignorance  and  un- 
belief, experiencing  nothing  of  the  power  and  the  life  of  the 
better  covenant.  As  a  consequence,  all  the  weakness  and  sin  of 
Israel  of  old  still  continues  in  the  Christian  ;  he  knows  not  what 
the  eternal  redemption  is,  and  cannot  live  in  it.  VVc  have  the 
difference  between  these  two  dispensations  in  the  suggestive 
words  :  Ye  are  not  come  unto  a  mount  that  might  be  touched  : 
Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion.  Which  thhigs  contain  an 
allegory :  for  these  are  tivo  covenants ;  one  from  Mount  Sinai, 
bearing  children  unto  bondage,  and  ansivereth  to  the  ferusaleni 
that  noiv  is.  But  the  feriisalem  that  is  above  is  free,  which  is  our 
mother  (Gal.  iv.  32-26),  The  whole  secret  of  the  Christian  life 
lies  in  the  right  apprehension  of  the  difference  between  the  two 
systems,  the  one  with  the  spirit  of  bondage  and  fear,  the  other 
with  its  boldness  and  liberty. 

Ye  are  not  come  to  the  mount  that  might  be  touched,^  with 
its  fear  and  terror,  with  its  command  not  to  draw  nigh  under 
pain  of  death,  and  its  words  which  only  made  them  that  heard 
entreat  that  no  word  more  should  be  spoken  to  them,  with  the 
mediator  of  the  covenant  himself  saying,  I  exceedingly  fear 
and  quake.  All  this  is  a  symbol  of  what  the  law  does ;  it 
works  wrath  and  fear  and  death.  It  comes  with  demands  we 
cannot  fulfil ;  with  its  threats  it  rouses  to  effort  and  perform- 
ance, but  gives  neither  the  love  of  God's  will    nor   the  power 

'  "The  apoblle  reminds  us  of  seven  things  in  connection  with  the  giving  of  the 
law — (i)  Tlie  mount  touched  by  God  ;  (2)  Fire  ;  (3)  Blackness  of  cloud  ;  (4)  Dark- 
jiess  ;  (5)  Thunder  ;  (6)  The  sound  of  a  trumpet :  (7)  The  voice  of  God." — SAriiiR. 
Notice  in  the  next  pass.ni,'c  the  sevenfold  glory  of  Mount  Sion. 


^bc:ibolicst  of  Bll  507 


to  do  it.  It  only  discovers  and  condemns  sin  ;  the  sense  of  self- 
reproach  and  self-condemnation  is  all  it  can  bring.  Read  Rom. 
vii.  and  see  there,  where  the  law  alone,  and  not  the  Spirit,  is 
mentioned,  the  impotence  and  the  wretchedness  which  it  reveals. 
Read  Rom.  viii.  and  see  there  what  the  liberty  and  the  peace, 
the  life  and  the  love,  the  joy  and  the  strength  is  which  comes 
with  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Ye  are  not  come  to  the  mount  that  might  be  touched. 
Why  should  it  be  necessary  to  tell  the  Christian  this  ?  If  Sinai 
is  so  terrible,  who  could  wish  to  live  there?  who  would  not 
gladly  accept  the  first  message  that  God  calls  him  away  from 
there  ?  Strange  to  say,  the  awakened  soul  is  ever  in  danger  of 
thinking  that  there  is  no  way  to  pacify  Sinai  but  by  fulfilling  its 
demands.  God's  grace  is  so  wonderful,  the  way  in  which  He 
has  met  the  claims  of  Sinai  is  so  divine  and  beyond  man's 
comprehension,  that  the  human  heart,  when  it  begins  to  seek 
salvation,  ever  does  so  in  the  way  of  effort.  And  even  after  we 
have  believed  in  Jesus,  we  are  always  inclined  to  look  to  what 
we  can  do  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  God.  We  know  not  that 
in  calling  us  away  from  Sinai  to  Mount  Sion,  God  not  only 
gives  us  a  free  and  full  pardon  for  sin,  but  the  law  written  in  the 
heart,  the  power  for  a  new  obedience  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
the  fitness  for  entering  into  His  presence,  and  dwelling  in 
unbroken  fellowship  with  Him. 

Ye  are  not  come  to  Mount  Sinai.  This  is  just  the  word 
every  Christian  needs  who  is  in  danger  of  being  discouraged 
and  fainting  in  the  race.  You  are  not  under  the  law.  Your 
complaints  that  when  you  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with 
you,  prove  that  you  are  still  under  the  law,  trying  to  fulfil  it. 
It  is  all  in  vain.  You  must  ask  for  the  Holy  Spirit's  teaching, 
to  show  you  how  entirely  you  are  taken  from  under  the  shadow 


^o»  zbc  -Doliest  of  a[l 


of  Sinai,  and  placed  on  Mount  Sion.  Oh,  try  to  understand 
what  God  is  speaking  to  you  in  His  Son.  Christ  is  to  be  your  life. 
In  the  power  of  an  endless  life  He  is  your  High  Priest,  bringing 
you  near  to  God  ;  He  is  your  covenant  Mediator,  putting  in 
tlivinc  rcalit\-  the  law  into  your  inmost  parts  ;  your  Priest-King, 
sending  from  His  throne  the  Holy  Spirit  to  reveal  Himself  as 
the  law  of  your  life.  Ye  are  not  come  to  Mount  Sinai;  its  fear 
and  terror  arc  exchanged  for  faith  and  trust.  Come  and  live 
by  faith,  and  Christ  will  be  your  life. 

1.  In  studying  the  meaning  of  a  word  or  truth,  it  is  often  most  helpful  in  cases  where  wc 
are  in  danger  of  confounding,  owing  to  apparent  resemblances,  things  that  differ,  to  find  out 
what  it  is  not.  There  is  so  much  in  salvation  by  the  law  that  looks  lihe  true  saluation,  that 
many  are  all  their  life  led  astray.  It  is,  therefore,  of  infinite  consequence  to  know  well  what 
this  means :  Ye  axe  not  come  to.  The  place  to  which  Christ  brings  you  to^  not  In  the  least 
Mount  Sinai.     Say  now,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  Mount  Sinai. 

2.  Mount  Sinai  means,  as  man  takes  it,  life  by  self-effort,  by  our  own  goodness,  God 
helping  us ;  by  a  religion  of  self,  with  God's  grace  to  fill  out  what  self  cannot  do.  Mount 
Sinai,  as  God  means  it,  is  sin  and  wrath  and  condemnation :  the  death  and  the  end  of  self,  to 
prepare  the  way  for  Christ.  Mount  Sinai  points  away  to  Mount  Sion  and  to  Christ.  There  He 
doe.<;  .ill. 


Zbc  iboUest  ot  ail  509 


CXX. 

YE  ARE  COME  UNTO  MOUNT  SION. 

XII.  -22.  But  ye  are  come  ainto  Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the 
living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  innumerable  hosts  of  angels, 

23.  To  the  general  assemby  and  church  of  the  firstborn  who  are  enrolled 
in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  Jvidge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect, 

24.  And  to  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  a  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of 
sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  than  that  of  Abel. 

Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  A  traveller  by  train  ha.s  often 
reached  a  place  without  his  knowing  that  he  is  there.  The 
guard  or  a  friend  has  to  tell  him.  Often  it  is  because  that  he 
had  expected  the  journey  to  last  longer.  So  deep  is  there  in 
us  the  spirit  of  salvation  by  effort  and  attainment,  by  what  we 
are  and  feel,  that  the  rousing  call  is  needed  continually.  Here 
you  are,  sooner  than  you  thought,  in  very  deed,  come  to  Mount 
Sion  !  Come,  let  us  walk  about  Sion,  and  go  round  about  her. 
Beautiful  in  elevation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,  is  Mount  Sion. 
God  has  made  Himself  known  in  her  palaces  for  a  refuge !  Let 
us  consider  its  sevenfold  glory  as  here  set  before  us.  And  may 
God,  in  the  power  of  His  Holy  Spirit  within  us,  reveal  to  us 
what  it  means,  that  we  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  that  we  have 
been  made  meet  for  dwelling  there,  that  Mount  Sion  is  in  actual 
spiritual  reality  our  dwelling-place,  where  the  powers  of  the 
heavenly  world  rest  upon  us  and  work  in  us. 


610  Cbe  1bolic5t  of  au 


1 .  Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the 
living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem.  Read  the  description  of 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem  in  Revelations  (xxi.  1-3,  10,  11  ;  xxii. 
2"]  ;  xxii.  1-5),  and  listen  to  the  voice  :  Behold  I  the  tabernacle  of 
God  is  with  jnen,  and  He  shall  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be 
His  people,  and  God  Himself  shall  be  zvith  them,  and  be  their 
God.  The  Lord  God  Almighty,  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple 
thereof.  The  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  light  thereof 
is  the  I^amb.  The  throtie  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  therein  ; 
and  His  serva?tts  shall  do  Him  service ;  and  they  shall  see  His 
face.    This  is  the  glory  to  which  Jesus  has  brought  thee  in,  when 

lie  took  away  the  veil.  In  the  power  and  experience  of  that 
opened  way  the  Holy  Spirit  enables  thee  to  live.  This  is  the 
city  which  Abraham  looked  for,  which  hath  the  foundations. 
Thou  art  come  to  it.  Of  this  city  thou  art  now  a  citizen.  In  it 
thou  canst  live,  for  thou  hast  been  brought  into  the  Holiest, 
the  very  centre  of  the  city,  the  very  presence  of  God.  Ye  are 
come  unto  Mount  Sion. 

2.  And  to  innumerable  hosts  of  angels.  These  are  they 
who  stand  around  the  throne  of  God,  and  who  fulfil  His  will. 
These  are  they  through  whom  the  power  of  God  works  in  all 
nature.  These  are  they  who  are  sent  out  to  minister  to  the 
heirs  of  salvation.  With  these,  their  worship  and  obedience, 
we  are  now  in  fellowship,  doing  the  will  of  our  Father  as  it  is 
done  in  heaven. 

3.  To  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  firstborn  who 
are  enrolled  in  heaven.  That  is,  the  Church  on  earth,  enrolled 
in  heaven,  but  not  yet  gathered  in.  They  are  the  firstborn — 
destined,  as  having  the  image  of  the  firstborn  One,  to  take  the 
first  place  in  creation  among  all  the  creatures  of  God  (Col.  i.  15  ; 
J  as.  i.  18.)     God  keep  us  from  despising  this  our  birthright ;  let 


^be  ibollcst  of  ail  sii 


us  live  as  God's  firstborn,  in  living  union  with  all  His  saints  on 
earth. 

4.  And  to  God  the  Judge  of  all.  It  is  not  only  to  the  living 
God,  dwelling  in  the  city  of  God,  that  we  are  come,  but  to  Him 
who  is  Judge  of  all.  Our  redemption  gives  us  such  deliverance 
from  sin,  that  we  have  already  been  admitted  to  the  home  of 
our  Judge. 

5.  And  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  These  are 
the  saints  in  heaven.  There  are  those  on  earth  who  are  called 
perfect  (v.  14),  but  these  are  they  who,  like  Christ,  have  been 
wholly  perfected.  These  spirits,  too,  waiting  for  the  redemption 
of  the  body,  belong  to  the  blessed  fellowship  to  which  we  have 
been  admitted. 

6.  And  to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  a  new  covenant.  Moses 
was  the  mediator  of  the  covenant  on  Sinai ;  Jesus,  of  the  better 
covenant,  enacted  upon  better  promises.  The  covenant,  we  saw 
(viii.  6-13),  has  specially  to  do  with  our  heart,  with  our  fitness 
for  holding  fellowship  with  God,  with  a  will  and  a  life  in  perfect 
unison  with  God's  will.  In  Mount  Sion  we  are  come  to  Jesus, 
who,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  lives  and  does  all  His 
saving  work  within  us. 

7.  And  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  which  speaketh  better  than 
that  of  Abel.  What  a  heavenly  mystery !  It  is  not  enough 
that  for  our  life  in  the  city  of  God  we  have  Jesus,  the  living  One, 
as  our  life ;  we  find  there  too  the  token  of  His  death — the  blood 
of  sprinkling,  speaking,  pleading  for  us  each  moment.  Speaking, 
not  as  Abel's,  of  wrath,  but  of  atonement  and  eternal  redemption. 
We  are  come  to  the  blood,  not  only  as  shed  on  earth,  but  as 
sprinkled  in  heaven — our  boldness,  our  cleansing,  our  sanctifica- 
tion  ;  speaking  to  God  for  us,  speaking  for  God  to  us,  of  peace 
and  love ;  speaking  in  divine,  in  heavenly  power  within  us. 


>i*2  Zbc  Ibolicat  of  mi 


Christian,  to  all  this  you  are  come.  Just  as  sure  as  you  are 
come  to  God  in  the  Holiest,  to  dwell  with  Him,  you  are  come^  to 
all  this,  and  dwell  in  the  midst  of  it.  God  hath  brou<^ht  you  to  it 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  will,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  reveal  it  in  your 
heart,  so  that  you  know  the  things  which  are  freely  given  you  of 
God.  Can  it  be,  that  any  are  content  to  sleep  on,  while  the  call  is 
heard  :  You  are  come  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem — enter  in  and 
dwell  here.  There  is  no  other  choice — can  it  be  that  any  will 
prefer  to  live  under  Sinai  and  its  bondage  ?  Can  it  be  that  any 
will  count  the  price  too  great,  and,  because  they  love  the  world, 
refuse,  with  Abraham  and  Moses,  to  go  out  and  live  by  faith,  in 
this  city  of  God.  God  forbid  that  it  should  be  so  with  us.  Let 
Sion,  the  city  of  God,  with  its  heavenly  joy,  and  its  beauty  of 
holiness,  and  its  eternal  life  power,  be  the  place  of  our  abode. 
The  Holy  Spirit,  sent  down  when  Jesus  had  entered  and  opened 
the  gates  for  us,  brings  down  into  our  hearts  the  very  life  and 
light  of  heaven,  brings  us  into  the  experience  of  it  all. 

/.  Salvation  brings  to  the  city  of  God,  to  a  fellowship  of  the  saints,  to  a  social  life  of  mutual 
intercourse  and  help.  To  find  our  happiness  in  the  welfare  of  others,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus 
Christ,  is  of  the  essence  of  religion,  is  a  condition  of  the  dwelling  in  Mount  Sion. 

2.  I  saw  the  New  Jerusalem  come  down  from  heaven  :  that  took  place  in  part  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  descended  upon  earth,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  into  the 
hearts  of  those  praying  disciples.  It  is  only  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  this  Ye  are  come 
unto  Mount  Zion  can  be  more  than  a  beautiful  imagination. 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit  makes  all  the  work  and  glory  of  Jesus  an  inward  life  in  our  heart.  Leteuery 
word  like  this,  Ye  are  come,  that  is  too  high  for  us,  make  us  believe  more  firmly  in  His  hidden 
inward  teachihg.     He  will  work  in  our  heart  more  than  our  mind  can  understand. 


'  The  word  come  is  the  same  as  in  iv.  i6  ;  vii.  25  ;  x.  i,  22,  t/raw  nigh. 


Cbe  1F30l(eet  of  Bll  sis 


CXXI. 

OUR  GOD  IS  A  CONSUMING  FIRE. 

XII.— 2  5.  See  that  ye  refuse  not  him  that  speaketh.  For  if  they  escaped  not, 
when  they  refused  him  that  warned  them  on  earth,  much  more  shall  not  we 
escape,  who  turn  away  from  him  that  warneth  from  heaven : 

26.  "Whose  voice  then  shook  the  earth:  but  now  he  hath  promised,  saying, 
Yet  once  more  will  I  make  to  tremble  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  the  heaven. 

27.  And  this  word,  Yet  once  more,  signifieth  the  removing  of  those  things 
that  are  shaken,  as  of  tilings  that  have  been  made,  that  those  things  which  are 
not  shaken  may  remain. 

28.  Wherefore,  receiving  a  kingdom  that  cannot  be  shaken,  let  us  have  grace, 
whereby  we  may  offer  service  well-pleasing  to  God  with  reverence  and  awe : 

29.  For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire. 

See  that  ye  refuse  not  Him  that  speaketh.  The  writer  is  full 
of  the  danger  of  their  falling  short,  tarrying"  under  Sinai,  and 
perishing  there.  For  the  third  time  (see  ii.  2  ;  x.  26)  he  urges 
the  Hebrews  to  remember  how  much  more  terrible  the  punish- 
ment of  sin  will  be  under  the  New  than  under  the  Old.  The 
certainty  and  the  sureness  of  the  punishment  under  the  law  give 
us  terrible  warning  of  the  danger  we  incur.  Greater  privileges 
bring  greater  responsibility  ;  the  neglect  of  these,  greater  punish- 
ment. If  they  escaped  not,  when  they  refused  Him  that  warned 
them  on  earth,  mjicJi  more  shall  not  we  escape,  who  turn  away 
from  Him  that  warneth  from  heaven.  The  terrors  of  Sinai  will 
be  far  surpassed  by  the  awful  judgment  on  those  who  refuse 
Him  that  speaks  from  Mount  Sion.  Mount  Sion  has  its  terrors 
too  ;  let  these,  far  more  terrible  than  Mount  Sinai,  rouse  us  to 

JO 


614  XLbc  lbo»c9t  of  ail 


accept  its  wonderful  blessing.  He  whose  voice  then  shook  the 
earth,  hath  spoken,  Yet  once  more,  I  will  make  to  tremble  not 
the  earth  only,  but  the  heaven  also.  And  this  word.  Yet  once 
more,  signifieth  the  removing  of  those  things  that  are  shaken, 
as  of  things  that  have  been  made,  that  these  things  which  are 
not  shaken  may  remain.  In  that  final  shaking  all  created  things 
will  be  removed,  that  only  the  things  which  cannot  be  shaken, 
the  city  that  hath  foundations,  may  remain.  In  that  day  nothing 
will  stand  but  that  Mount  Sion,  which  shall  never  be  moved, 
and  they  that  dwell  there. 

Wherefore,  receiving  a  kingdom  that  cannot  be  shaken. 
There  is  only  one  thing  that  cannot  be  shaken :  the  kingdom  of 
God — that  spiritual  world  in  which  His  will  is  done  and  His 
love  revealed.  That  kingdom  we  receive  by  faith  into  our 
hearts.  TZ/c  kingdovi  of  God  is  wit/ihi  you.  And  the  more  our 
faith  knows  and  owns,  amid  the  things  that  are  shaken  and  shall 
not  remain,  the  unmovable  kingdom,  the  more  will  itself  be- 
come firm  and  steadfast,  and  enable  us  to  stand  unshaken  and 
immovable  too. 

Wherefore,  receiving  a  kingdom  that  cannot  be  shaken,  let 
us  have  grace,  whereby  we  may  offer  service  well-pleasing  to 
God,  with  godly  fear  and  awe.  Let  us  have  grace — let  us 
accept,  and  realise,  and  always  hold  fast  the  grace  promised  at 
the  throne  of  grace  (iv.  i6)  for  every  time  of  need.  Whereby  we 
may  offer  service  well  -  pleasing  to  God.  Wc  have  been 
cleansed  by  the  blood  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God. 
Our  entrance  into  the  Holiest  and  our  drawing  nigh  was  that 
we  might  serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple — serve  Him 
so  that  we  obtain  the  witness  that  our  service  is  well-pleasing. 
Nothing  less  can  satisfy  either  our  heart  or  His  heart.  But  this 
is  what  grace  will  indeed  effect.     It  will  not  only  pardon,  and 


Zbc  iboUest  of  BU  5i5 


not  only  accept  and  cover  what  is  defective ;  it  will  enable  us  to 
offer  service  well-pleasing  to  God.  Let  us  have  grace  and  faith 
for  this ;  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God. 

That  we  may  offer  service  well-pleasing  to  God  with  godly 
fear  and  awe :  for  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire.  Jesus  was 
heard  /or  His  godly  fear.  Noah  was  moved  ivitk  godly  fear. 
The  Father  of  Jesus,  the  God  of  Noah,  is  our  God  ;  surely  it 
becomes  us  to  serve  Him  with  godly  fear.  It  will  be  one  of  the 
sure  fruits  of  grace  in  us.  The  awful  realities  of  sin  and 
judgment  that  Noah  and  Christ  had  to  deal  with  still  exist  and 
surround  us.  The  holiness  and  the  glory  of  God,  the  power 
and  the  curse  of  sin,  our  own  utter  weakness  and  the  terrible 
danger  of  the  multitudes  around  us,  call  every  Christian  to  offer 
his  service  to  God  with  godly  fear  and  awe. 

For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire.  The  fire  and  blackness 
and  darkness  of  Sinai  were  but  shadows — the  reality  will  be 
seen  when  God  breaks  forth  in  His  judgment  on  those  who 
reject  His  Son,  His  holiness  is  a  fire,  which,  by  the  eternal  law 
of  His  nature,  must  consume  all  that  is  evil.  His  love  is  a  fire, 
which  must  burn  up  and  destroy  all  that  hinders  or  refuses  the 
triumph  of  love. 

Fire  may  be  either  a  blessing  or  a  curse.  All  depends 
upon  my  relation  to  it  whether  it  meets  me  as  a  friend  or  an 
enemy.  The  fire  of  God,  as  it  comes  to  purify,  to  consume  the 
sacrifice  and  convert  it  into  its  own  heavenly  light-nature,  to 
baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  to  transform  our 
being  into  flames  of  love, — blessed  the  man  who  knows  His  God 
as  a  consuming  fire.  But  woe  to  him  on  whom  the  fire  of  God 
descends,  as  on  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  in  wrath  and  judgment. 
Oh  that  in  the  fulness  of  faith  all  believers  might  see  and 
fear   this    impending    judgment,   and,    moved    with    the    com- 


516  ube  Iboliest  of  ail 

passion   of  Christ,   i^ivc   themselves    to   warn    men   and    snatch 
them  from  the  fire.     For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire. 

7.  I  know  almost  nothing  that  makes  one  feel  his  own  impotence  more  than  when  a  sight  is 
giuen  of  the  approaching  fate  of  so  many  around  us,  and  it  is  as  if  nothing  avails  to  arouse  or 
save  them.  Our  only  hope  is  to  place  ourselves  persistently  at  His  feet  who  is  mighty  to  save,  and 
wait  on  Him  for  the  fire  of  His  zeal  and  love  to  burn  within  us. 

2.  Godly  fear  and  awe.  "For  as  good  as  God  is,  so  great  is  He  ;  and  as  much  as  it  belongeth 
to  His  Godhead  to  be  loved,  so  much  it  belongeth  to  His  greatness  to  be  dreaded.  And  this  reverent 
dread  is  the  fairest  worship  that  is  in  heaven  before  God's  face.  And  as  much  as  He  shall  be 
loved,  overpassing  that  He  is  now,  insomuch  shall  He  be  dreaded  overpassing  that  He  is  now.  And 
well  I  wot  that  the  Lord  has  shown  me  no  souls  that  love  Him  but  those  that  dread  Him."  (TREES 
PLANTED  BY  THE  RIVER.) 


«Ibe  iboliest  of  ail  517 


TWELFTH   SECTION-xiii. 
Of  Love  and  Good  Works. 


CXXII. 

OF   LOVE. 


XIII.— 1.  Let  love  of  the  brethren  continue. 

2.  Forget  not  to  shew  love  unto  strangers:  for  thereby  some  have  enter- 
tained angels  unawares. 

3.  Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them ;  them  that  are 
evil  entreated,  as  being  ourselves  also  in  the  body. 

4.  Let  marriage  be  had  in  honour  among  all,  and  let  the  bed  be  undeflled : 
for  fornicators  and  adiilterers  God  will  judge. 

At  the  door  of  the  Holiest,  coupled  with  the  invitation  to  enter 
in  (x.  19-25),  we  heard  the  name  of  the  three  sisters — Faith, 
Hope,  and  Love.  The  life  into  which  faith  leads  us  has  been  set 
before  us  in  chap.  xi.  ;  that  of  hope  and  its  patience  in  chap  xii. 
r-13.  We  now  have  the  life  of  love  and  good  works.  Our 
author  begins  with  pointing  out  four  of  the  chief  characteristics 
of  the  life  of  love.  These  are,  the  love  of  the  brethren,  hospi- 
tality, sympathy  with  those  who  are  in  bonds  or  persecuted,  and 
the  love  of  the  married  state. 

Let  love  of  the  brethren  continue.  The  word  love,  used  of 
God  or  Christ,  is  not  found  in  the  Epistle.  It  was  not  needed  : 
its  whole  teaching  is  the  revelation  of  that  love.     Of  the  love 


618  Zbe  DoUest  ot  ail 


and  loving  care  of  the  saints  for  each  other  mention  has  more 
than  once  been  made.  He  that  enters  the  Holiest  finds  there 
the  God  of  love.  The  life  and  the  blessing  he  receives  is  nothing 
but  the  nature  of  God,  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart. 
He  cannot  trul}-  enter  the  presence  of  God  or  enter  His  love 
without  finding  his  brethren  there  :  he  cannot  but  prove  his  love 
to  God  and  his  joy  in  God  in  love  to  his  brethren.  On  Mount 
Sion  is  the  city  of  God,  where  God  makes  the  solitary  to  dwell 
in  families  :  we  cannot  share  its  blessings  in  any  way  but  as  we 
share  them  with  our  fellow-citizens. 

The  command  of  our  text  reminds  us  of  how  love  maj'  wax 
cold,  and  how  it  may  be  sadly  wanting  in  the  Church.  In 
divisions  and  separations,  in  indifference  and  neglect,  in  harsh 
judgments  and  unloving  thoughts — alas,  how  little  'has  Christ's 
Church  proved  that  it  has  its  birth  from  the  God  of  love,  that  it 
owes  its  all  to  Him  who  loved  us,  gave  us  the  new  command- 
ment of  love,  and  asked  us  to  prove  our  love  to  Him  by 
bestowing  it  on  our  brethren.  If  our  study  of  the  Epistle  has 
not  been  in  vain,  if  we  have  seen  or  tasted  aught  of  the  power 
of  the  eternal  redemption  it  reveals,  let  us  yield  ourselves  to  live 
lives  of  love.  Let  every  child  of  God,  be  he  ever  so  feeble  or 
erring  or  unlovable,  be  to  us  the  object  of  a  deep.  Christlike 
love.  Let  us  show  it  in  the  humility  and  gentleness,  the  kindli- 
ness and  helpfulness,  with  which  we  give  ourselves  to  care  for 
them  and  to  comfort  them.  The  life  in  the  city  of  the  living 
God  is  a  life  of  love  :  the  more  we  love,  the  more  the  mists  will 
roll  away  and  our  souls  see  it  in  sunshine  and  beauty.  The 
greatest  of  all  is  love :  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwclleth  in  God, 
and  God  in  him. 

Forget  not  to  shevi^  love  unto  strangers  :  for  thereby  some 
have  entertained  angels  unawares.     Love  must  pro\e  itself 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  Hll  5i9 


in  deeds.  Our  Lord's  words  :  /  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  Me 
in,  teach  us  the  sacredness  and  the  blessedness  of  hospitah'ty, 
shown  not  only  to  friends,  but  to  those  whose  only  claim  is  that 
they  are  Christ's.  It  is  too  sadly  true  that,  with  the  increase  of 
riches  and  luxury,  the  simplicity  that  loves  to  entertain  strangers 
is  often  lost.  Scripture  lays  down  no  rules,  it  only  points  us  to 
the  law  of  love.  It  addresses  us  as  those  who  have  entered  the 
Holiest,  who  are  come  to  Mount  Sion,  and  asks  us,  who,  apart 
from  all  worthiness  or  merit,  have  been  so  freely  and  wonder- 
fully loved  and  received  into  the  home  of  God,  that  we  in  turn 
should  open  our  home  to  the  stranger  and  the  needy.  The 
Holiest  is  the  abode  of  perfect  love :  let  him  who  enters  live  in 
love.  Let  us  remember  the  deep  spiritual  mystery,  that  our 
actions  often  mean  more  than  we  know  ;  we  may  be  entertaining 
angels,  or  even  their  Lord  :  He  that  receiveth  yon,  recdveth 
Me. 

Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them ; 
them  that  are  evil  entreated,  as  being  yourselves  also  in  the 
body.  We  know  so  well  in  our  own  body  that  when  one 
member  suffers  all  the  members  suffer  with  it.  The  word  points 
to  loving  union  with  Jesus  and  His  body  on  earth  as  close  and 
real.  This  feeling  of  sympathy  may  and  must  be  as  quick  and 
real  in  the  spiritual  as  in  the  natural  body.  We  are  to  feel 
towards  the  prisoners  and  the  persecuted  as  if  we  ourselves  were 
suffering.  We  have  been  admitted  to  a  life  in  the  home  and  the 
love  of  God  ;  they  who  abide  there  will  learn  thus  to  love. 

Let  marriage  be  had  in  honour  among  all,  and  let  the  bed 
be  undefiled :  for  fornicators  and  adulterers  God  will  judge. 
From  the  wider  we  are  now  led  to  the  inner  circle.  Marriage  is 
the  God-ordained  type  of  the  love  of  Christ  to  His  Church. 
Alas,  how  its  holy  union  has  been  abused  and  defiled  !     Chris- 


^»20  Zbc  KxMicst  of  ail 


tianity  raised  marriage  out  of  the  deepest  degradation,  and  made 
it,  with  the  home  that  gathers  round  it,  what  it  has  been  in  the 
Christian  Church,  Love,  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  alone,  can 
keep  it  pure  and  holy. 

Ye  are  come  to  the  city  of  the  living  God.  Let  your  life  be 
one  of  love.  Its  claims  appear  too  high  and  exacting,  they 
appear  impossible  to  one  who  stands  outside  the  gate.  They 
become  the  joy  of  him  who  knows  what  it  is  to  have  entered  the 
rest  of  God,  where  He  works  all.  They  become  the  very  nature 
of  Him  who  has,  in  fulness  of  faith,  accepted  Jesus  as  His  High 
Priest,  in  the  power  of  the  endless  life,  bringing  him  nigh,  giving 
him  entrance  into  the  life  of  God.  The  covenant,  of  which  He 
is  the  Mediator,  has  written  on  the  new  heart  the  one  law  of 
lo\'e.  has  given  us  the  spirit  of  love. 

/.  The  first  half  of  the  Epistle  opened  our  eijcs  to  the  heavenly  glory  of  Jesus,  and  of  that 
heauenly  sanctuary  into  which  He  lifts  tis.  The  second  shows  us  how  we  are  to  Hue  that  heavenly 
life  on  earth.     The  more  a  man  lives  in  heaven,  the  better  fitted  he  is  to  live  on  earth. 

2.  Love  is  the  new  nature  we  receive  from  heaven,  and  is  renewed  from  heaven  day  by  day. 
The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love.  When  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  from  heaven,  love  filled  the  hearts. 
Let  us  beware  of  attempting  to  fulfil  these  commands  of  love  by  our  own  will :  it  is  only  a  love 
given  from  God  that  can  love  all,  at  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances. 

3.  Ye  are  not  come  to  Mount  Sinai,  the  life  of  law  and  effort,  of  strain  and  failure.  But  ye  are 
come  to  Mount  Sion,  a  life  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  power  of  Jesus,  in  joy  and  strength  and 
perfect  love. 


trbe  iboliest  of  ail  521 


CXXIII. 

FALSE  AND  TRUE  RICHES. 

XIII.— 5.  Be  ye  free  from  the  love  of  money;  content  with  such  things 
as  ye  have:  for  himself  hath  said,  I  will  in  no  wise  fail  thee,  neither  vrill 
I  in  any  wise  forsake  thee. 

6.  So  that  with  good  courage  we  say, 

The  Lord  is  my  helper ;  I  will  not  fear : 
What  shall  man  do  unto  me  ? 

The  first  duty  the  Christian  who  has  drawn  near  to  God  in 
Christ  has  to  learn  is,  what  his  relation  is  to  his  fellow-men,  how 
his  life  is  to  be  one  of  love.  The  second  concerns  his  relation 
to  the  world  and  its  goods.  The  outer  world  surrounds  him  on 
every  side,  he  is  in  contact  with  it  every  moment.  With  a 
never-ceasing  solicitation  it  asks  his  care,  his  interest,  his 
affections.  It  tempts  him  with  its  offer  of  pleasure  and  its 
threat  of  pain  ;  it  comes  to  him  holding  life  and  death  in  its 
hand.  The  world,  which  was  meant  to  be  transparent  with  the 
light  of  God's  presence  and  goodness,  has,  since  sin  blinded 
man's  eyes,  become  the  veil  that  hides  God  from  him.  One  of 
the  first  things  the  Christian,  who  is  running  the  race,  must 
watch  most  carefully,  is  the  power  that  the  world  has,  with  its 
lawful  needs  and  interests  and  pleasures,  to  become  the  weight 
that  keeps  him  back,  and  too  often  cause  the  loss  of  the  prize. 

In  money  we  have  the  concrete  embodiment  of  all  that  the 
possessions  of  the  world  can  offer.  And  so  in  the  love  of 
money  we  have  the  very  spirit  of  the  world.     Our  text  says : 


522  Ubc  IbolicBt  of  ail 


Be  ye  free  from  the  love  of  money.  The  temptation  comes 
so  unobscrvcdly,  both  to  the  rich  man  who  has  money,  and  to 
him  who  is  still  seeking  for  it.  The  tempter  comes  like  a  very 
angel  of  light.  In  money  itself  there  is  no  sin.  Is  it  not  one  of 
God's  good  gifts  ?  May  not  the  possession  of  it  be  the  proof  of 
honest  labour  and  diligence  and  forethought,  of  self-denial  and 
wise  economy  ;  a  token  of  God's  blessing  on  our  work  ;  a  power 
to  help  others  and  benefit  society.  Is  not  poverty  frequently  a 
sign  of  sloth  and  sin  ?  Is  not  money  one  great  means  for 
attaining  God's  purpose,  that  man  should  bring  the  whole  world 
into  subjection  to  himself? 

Scripture  knows  and  teaches  all  this.  And  yet  it  raises  its 
voice  aloud  and  cries :  Beware  of  covetousness.  The  love  of  money  is 
a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evil  {\  Tim.  vi.  9,  10,  16,  17,  18).  So  insidious 
is  the  approach  and  entrance  of  this  sin,  so  many  and  specious 
are  the  arguments  by  which  it  can  be  cloaked  and  made  to 
wear  the  garments  of  the  truest  virtue,  that  the  Christian,  to 
whom  prosperity  comes,  needs  ever  to  be  on  his  guard.  It  is  only 
the  man  who  truly  seeks  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  who  longs 
after  the  utmost  conformity  to  the  Master,  and  seeks  to  be 
taught  by  Himself  what  and  how  to  own,  who  holds  all  He  has, 
not  in  name  but  in  actual  practice,  at  the  disposal  of  Jesus,  who 
will  escape  the  snare.  Be  content  with  such  things  as  ye 
have.  Here  is  the  .safety  of  the  Christian.  Study  well  the 
Master's  teaching  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  learn  from  His 
Spirit  in  thee  to  breathe  its  spirit.  Let  the  treasure  in  heaven, 
the  being  rich  in  God  and  in  good  works,  let  the  blessedness  of 
living  in  the  love  and  the  will  of  God,  in  the  heavenly  riches  of 
a  holy  character,  and  a  life  of  Christlike  beneficence,  fill  the 
heart,  and  we  shall  be  content  in  any  lot,  and  shall  in  content- 
ment find  our  safeguard  against  anxious  care  or  love  of  money. 


^be  Ibolfest  of  Hll  523 


For  Himself  hath  said,  I  will  in  no  wise  fail  thee,  nor 
in  any  wise  forsake  thee.  Yes,  when  God  is  the  portion  of 
the  soul,  it  may  well  be  content  with  what  it  has  of  earth.  It  is 
the  consciousness  of  the  favour  and  nearness  of  God  that  makes 
the  soul  rise  above  all  that  the  world  can  offer.  To  lead  the 
truly  Christian  life,  the  life  of  faith  amid  daily  duties  and  daily 
care,  we  need  the  presence  of  God  as  our  better  and  abiding 
possession.  Our  earthly  and  our  heavenly  life  are  more  closely 
linked  than  we  know.  Too  much  of  interest  in  or  attachment  to 
earthly  things  inevitably  weakens  our  hold  on  God.  True 
fellowship  with  God  at  once  brings  us  into  the  right  relation 
to  earthly  things.  Let  our  faith  study  and  feed  on  the 
promise:  Himself  hath  said,  I  will  in  no  wise  leave  thee, 
nor  in  any  wise  forsake  thee.  The  faith  that  clings  to  its 
fulfilment  will  overcome  the  world. 

So  that  with  good  courage  we  say,  The  Lord  is  my  helper ; 
I  shall  not  fear :  what  shall  man  do  unto  me  ?  God's 
promise  ever  claims  an  answer.  Here  the  answer  is  given  us 
with  which  our  hearts  ought  to  respond  to  His  I  will  in  no 
wise  leave  thee ;  with  good  courage  we  say,  the  Lord  is  my 
helper,  I  shall  not  fear.  Let  us  speak  the  words  loud  out, 
and  repeat  them  until  we  feel  that  they  are  ours.  Whether  it 
be  in  temporal  need,  or  in  our  many  spiritual  requirements,  we 
are  often  tempted  to  faint  and  fear.  A  promise  of  God,  such  as 
we  have  here,  is  meant  for  the  hour  of  trial.  Everything  may 
at  times  appear  very  dark ;  we  cry  and  no  answer  comes  ;  it 
almost  looks  as  if  God  had  forgotten  us.  Let,  in  the  fulness  of 
faith,  the  voice  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses,  all  bidding  us  be  of 
good  courage  and  to  wait  patiently,  enter  our  hearts,  and  let  us 
say :  Himself  hath  said,  I  will  in  no  wise  leave  thee.  Let 
us  hold  fast  the  confession  of  our  hope  that  it  waver  not, 


ii24  ^be  Uolicst  of  Bll 


for  He  is  faithful  that  promised,  and  boldly  sa\ ,   The  Lord 
is  my  helper,  I  will  not  fear. 

Free  from  the  love  of  money,  content  with  what  he  has, 
holding  fast  what  Himself  has  said,  and  with  good  courage 
answering,  The  Lord  is  my  helper,  such  is  the  life  which  the 
man  who  has  entered  the  Holiest  is  able  to  live  amid  the  cares 
and  needs  of  daily  life. 

7.  The  promise — I  will  in  nowise  leave  thee  was  first  given  to  Jacob,  then  to  Joshua, 
nnd  again  to  Solomon,  and  afterwards  to  Israel.  It  teaches  us  how  every  promise  of  the 
Old  Testament  may  be  appropriated  by  us.  We  in  our  daily  life  are  to  God  of  as  deep 
interest  as  those  on  whom  of  old  the  working  out  of  His  purpose  depended.  The  abiding, 
uninterrupted  presence  of  God  is  our  one  great  need  in  daily  life.  It  is  the  one  great 
blessing  which  in  Christ  is  made  doubly  clear  and  sure. 

2.  Himself  hath  said :  So  that  we  say.  As  wc  listen  to  and  repeat  what  God  the 
Everlasting  has  said,  we  shall  know  what  to  say  in  response,  and  say  it  with' good  courage. 

3.  Be  content :  the  power  that  conquers  the  loue  of  money,  and  opens  the  heart  for 
the  faith  in  God's  promise  and  abiding  presence. 


ZbC  1F30UeSt  Ot  Bll  525 


CXXIV. 

JESUS   CHRIST,    THE    SAME   FOR   EVER. 

XIII.— 7.  Remember  them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  which  spake  unto 
you  the  word  of  God ;  and  considering  the  issue  of  their  Ufe,  imitate  their 
faith. 

8.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday  and  to-day,  yea  and  for  ever. 

Remember  them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  and  imitate  their 
faith.  The  reference  may  be  to  teachers  who  had  been  with 
them  for  a  time,  and  then  had  gone  elsewhere,  or  to  those  who 
had  been  called  away  by  death.  The  Hebrews  are  called  to 
consider  what  the  issue,  the  result,  of  their  life  had  been,  the 
impression  they  had  left,  and  to  imitate  their  faith,  as  the  power 
that  brought  forth  their  life.  Happy  the  church  where  the  holy 
life  and  manifest  faith  of  the  leaders  can  be  pointed  to,  even 
more  than  their  teaching.  Happy  the  church  that  imitates  and 
emulates  the  faith  of  its  leaders. 

We  remember  the  contrast  we  had  in  chap.  vii.  between  the 
priests  who  die  and  are  succeeded  by  others,  and  the  unchanging 
priesthood  of  Jesus.  The  thought  here  of  the  loss  of  those  who 
had  taught  them,  but  had  now  left  them,  appears  to  suggest  the 
words  that  follow :  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday  and 
to-day,  yea  and  for  ever.  There  may  be  loss  and  change  of 
men  who  are  beloved  and  of  great  worth  as  teachers.  Jesus  we 
can  never  lose, — in  Him  there  is  no  change.  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  same  yesterday  and  to  day,  yea  and  for  ever.     Through 


526  Zbe  DoUedt  of  Bll 


all  the  changes  in  the  Church  around  us,  through  all  the  changes 
in  the  spiritual  life  within  us,  He  changeth  not, — He  is  ever  the 
same.  As  our  faith  sees  and  seizes  hold  upon  this,  and  rests 
upon  Him  as  the  same  for  ever,  it  will  participate  in  His 
unchangeableness  ;  like  Him  it  will  know  no  change,  but  always 
be  the  same. 

Throughout  the  Epistle  we  have  now  so  often  seen  that  the 
great  defect  in  Christians  is  that  there  is  no  steadfast,  certain 
progress,  no  holding  fast  firm  to  the  end, — they  abide  not  con- 
tinually. As  with  Israel  in  the  old  covenant — they  continued 
not  in  it.  And  the  great  difference  of  the  new  covenant,  the 
wonderful  perfection  of  Christ's  redemption  and  eternal  priest- 
hood is  to  be,  that  now  there  is  to  be  an  end  to  backsliding. 
The  new  life  is  no  longer  to  be  fitful  and  changing  and  inter- 
mittent ;  its  measure  and  its  power,  its  anchor  within  the  veil  is 
to  be — the  unceasing  action  of  Jesus  the  High  Priest  after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life,  maintaining  for  us  in  heaven,  and 
within  us  in  the  heart,  the  free,  undisturbed,  abiding  fellowship 
with  God.  And,  as  we  have  more  than  once  said,  the  only 
reason  why  so  many  young  or  earnest  Christians  never  attain  to 
this  unchanging  life  is — T/i€v  do  not  knozv  Jesus.  They  do  not 
know  him  by  faith,  as  the  Epistle  has  set  Him  before  those  who 
are  pressing  on  to  perfection — as  a  Priest  for  ever,  who  ever 
liveth  to  pray,  and  therefore  every  moment  will  watch  ov^er  and 
keep  the  soul  that  trusts  Him  for  it.  They  do  not  know  that 
what  He  has  done  for  one  day,  or  one  hour.  He  will  do  every 
day  and  every  hour,  because  yesterday  and  to-day.  yea  and  for 
ever,  He  always  is  the  same. 

All  that  He  was  yesterday,  He  is  to-day.  All  that  He  was 
yesterday,  in  the  past  of  the  great  eternity,  as  the  object  of  the 
Father's  delight,  and   the  bearer  and  dispenser  of  the  r'ather's 


^be  iboliest  of  Bii  527 


life  and  love,  He  is  to-day.  All  that  He  was  yesterday,  in  His 
life  upon  earth,  with  His  meek  and  gentle  and  sympathising 
heart.  He  is  to-day.  All  that  He  has  been  on  His  throne,  in 
sending  down  His  Spirit,  in  working  mighty  things  in  and  on 
behalf  of  His  Church,  in  revealing  Himself  in  joy  unspeakable 
to  trusting  souls,  in  meeting  and  blessing  you  who  read  this, — 
He  is  to-day.  All  that  He  is,  He  can  be  to  you  to-day.  And 
the  only  reason  that  you  ever  had  to  look  back  to  a  yesterday 
that  was  better  than  to-day,  was  that  you  did  not  know,  or  that 
you  failed  to  trust,  this  Jesus,  who  was  waiting  to  make  each 
to-day  a  new  revelation  and  a  larger  experience  of  the  grace  of 
yesterday. 

The  same  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  for  ever.  Yea,  all  that 
He  has  been  He  will  be  for  ever,  even  from  henceforth,  from  the 
present  moment,  and  for  evermore.  And  all  that  He  will  be  for 
ever  He  is  at  this  moment  for  you.  Think  of  Him  in  the  fullest 
revelation  of  His  glor\',  in  the  inconceivable  closeness  of  the 
union  with  Him  and  His  love  which  shall  be  yours  hereafter,  and 
|et  faith  say.  All  that  He  ever  will  be.  He  is  to-day.  In  the 
external  revelation  there  may  be  change  and  advance,  in  Jesus 
Christ  Himself — none.  All  that  He  can  in  eternity  be  He  is  to 
you  to-day — the  same  to-day  and  for  ever.  Amid  all  the 
changes  in  the  Church  and  the  circumstances  around  us,  or  in 
our  heart  within  us,  in  this  one  word  is  a  strength  and  a  joy 
nothing  can  take  away  :  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday  and 
to-day,  yea  and  for  ever. 

To-day !— Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day !  Yes, 
To-day,  claim  and  trust  this  unchanging  Jesus  as  your  life.  His 
unchangeableness  enters  into  the  faith  that  feeds  upon  it,  and 
communicates  itself  to  it ;  yea,  imparts  itself  to  the  soul  that 
clings  to  Him  as  such.     Look  not  at  yourself,  your  feelings  or 


528  (Tbc  iboUcet  of  ail 


attainments,  but  at  Mim  who  chanijetli  not.  In  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  strengthening;  us  with  might  in  the  inner  man. 
He,  this  unchanging  Christ,  dwells  in  the  heart  by  faith.  Let 
the  faith  that  worships  Him  on  the  throne,  the  same  for  ever, 
rejoice  in  Him  as  the  indwelling  Saviour,  who  abidcth  continu- 
ally, who  changeth  not.  According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you. 
Even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day ! 

?.  Jesus  Christ,  for  ever  the  same.  The  power  in  which  He  gave  His  blood,  and  rose  again 
nnd  entered  heaven,  is  the  power  in  which  He  is  working  each  moment  in  us.  The  reason  we  do 
not  experience  it  is  simply,  because  of  our  unbelief.  Let  us  open  our  heart,  the  hidden  depth  of 
our  inner  life,  to  worship  and  receive  and  experience. 

2.  Jesus  Christ  ever  the  Same :  then  my  life,  too,  ever  the  Same  :  for  Christ  is  my  life. 

3.  Let  us  pray  for  the  Holy  Spirit's  teaching,  let  us  turn  inward  in  stillness  of  soul,  that  He 
may  reveal  in  us  this  unchanging  Saviour  as  our  life.  There  is  no  true  knowledge  of  Christ  but 
through  the  life  of  Christ  in  us. 

4.  As  the  Holy  Jesus  is  but  one — the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever— so  His  quickening, 
sanctifying  Spirit  in  fallen  man  is  but  one,  always  working  in  one  and  the  same  power. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  BU  529 


CXXV. 

LET  US  GO  FORTH,  WITHOUT  THE  CAMP. 

XIII.— 9.  Be  not  carried  away  by  divers  and  strange  teachings :  for  It  is  good 
that  the  heart  be  stablished  by  grace ;  not  by  meats,  wherein  they  that  occupied 
themselves  were  not  profited. 

10.  We  have  an  altar,  whereof  they  have  no  right  to  eat,  which  serve 
the  tabernacle. 

11.  For  the  bodies  of  those  beasts,  whose  body  is  brought  into  the  holy 
place  by  the  high  priest  as  an  offering  for  stn,  are  burned  without  the  camp. 

12.  Wherefore  Jesus  also,  that  He  might  sanctify  the  people  through  his 
own  blood,  suffered  without  the  gate. 

13.  Let  us  therefore  go  forth  unto  him  without  the  camp,  bearing  his 
reproach. 

14.  For  we  have  not  here  an  abiding  city,  but  we  seek  after  the  city  which 
is  to  come. 

Among  the  Hebrew  Christians  many  still  clung  to  the  temple 
and  its  ritual.  And  there  were  among  them  teachers  who 
inculcated  obedience  to  the  laws  in  regard  to  food  and  to  eating 
of  the  sacrifices  as  necessary.  The  writer  warns  against  these 
strange  teachings.  For  it  is  good  that  the  heart  be  stablished 
by  grace,  not  by  meats.  No  outward  observances  can  sustain 
the  inner  life  :  it  is  by  grace  alone,  grace  that  comes  from  the 
throne  of  grace,  that  the  heart  must  be  established.  Let  us  have 
grace,  we  read,  whereby  we  may  offer  service  well-pleasing  to 
God.  All  that  Christ  has  and  gives  and  works  in  us  by  the 
Holy  Spirit — this  is  the  grace  by  which  the  heart  can  be  con- 
firmed, and  kept  from  falling. 

The    Hebrew   Christian    might   not   think    of  returning   to 
34 


530  zbe  -fcollcst  of  ail 


fellowship  with  the  old  sacrifices.     We  have  an  altar,  whereof 
they  have  no  right  to  eat,  which  serve  the  tabernacle.    Our 

altar  is  the  cross  :  the  Lc\itical  priesthood  does  not  share  in  what 
it  gives  ;  the  old  and  the  new  worship  are  utterly  different.  The 
old  priesthood  has  no  part  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross :  the  new 
worship  no  part  in  the  old  sacrifices.  What  is  more,  even  the 
sin-offering,  of  which  the  blood  was  brought  into  the  Holy 
Place  by  the  High  Priest,  was — not  eaten,  but— burnt  without 
the  camp.  It  is  not  a  question  of  eating,  but  of  understanding 
what  it  means,  the  burning  of  the  body  without  the  camp.  This 
we  shall  see  in  Jesus.  The  sin-offering,  if  you  understand  it 
aright,  leads  you  to  separation  and  rejection.  Wherefore  Jesus, 
that  He  might  sanctify  the  people  through  His  own  blood, 
suffered  without  the  gate.  He  was  cast  out  of  the  city,  as 
one  who  was  intleed  made  sin  for  us.  Let  US  therefore  gO 
forth  unto  Him  without  the  camp,  bearing  His  reproach.  We 
now  belong  to  Jesus,  and  fear  not  the  rejection  of  those  who 
rejected  Him.  For  we  have  not  here  an  abiding  city,  but  we 
seek  after  the  city  which  is  to  come. 

Without  the  camp.  This  expression,  which  occurs  three 
times,  gives  us  the  chief  thought.  We  are  ever  inclined  to  seek  - 
our  religion  and  its  enjoyment  in  something  external.  And  it 
is  only  to  be  found  \r\  fcUoivsJiip  with  Jesus.  His  death  is  not 
only  an  atonement  for  our  sins — it  is  that,  praise  God  ! — but 
only  as  an  entrance  into  what  is  a  great  deal  more  and  better. 
It  is  the  way  and  the  power,  a  living  way.  of  fellowship  with 
Him,  so  that  like  Him  we  come  to  God  in  the  path  of  self- 
sacrifice  and  separation  from  the  world  and  death  to  sin.  His 
death  and  life  work  in  us  as  the  power  that  makes  us  ready  and 
able,  even  like  Him,  to  go  without  the  gate,  to  be  crucified  to  the 
world,  bearing  his  reproach. 


Cbe  IboUest  ot  ail  531 


To  understand  this  aright,  let  us  look  at  the  two  distinguish- 
ing features  of  the  sin-offering  on  the  day  of  atonement.  The 
blood  was  brought  into  the  Holy  Place ;  the  body  was  burnt 
outside  the  cavip.  Even  so  Christ's  blood  was  brought  into 
heaven,  and  is  the  power  of  our  entrance  and  our  abode  there : 
the  sign  that  that  is  our  place.  And  the  call  comes :  Let  ns 
draw  7iigh,  let  us  enter.  But  Christ's  body  was  brought  without 
the  camp  :  the  sign  that  that  is  our  place  too.  Heaven  has  re- 
ceived Him  and  us  in  Him :  we  belong  there.  The  world  has 
cast  Him  without  the  camp,  and  us  with  Him  :  we  belong  there. 
In  heaven  we  share  His  honour ;  on  earth  His  reproach.  Let 
us  therefore  go  forth  unto  Him,  without  the  camp,  bearing- 
His  reproach. 

The  camp  was  not  Rome  with  its  heathenism,  but  Jerusalem 
with  its  religion  and  its  revelation  from  God.  There  Jesus  was 
rejected  of  the  Jews,  because  He  condemned  their  self-righteous- 
ness and  formality.  It  is  not  the  irreligious  but  the  religious 
world  from  which  we  must  go  out — that  is,  from  everything  that 
is  not  in  harmony  with  His  cross  and  its  spirit  of  self-sacrifice. 
Let  us  go  forth :  not  from  one  religious  connection  to  another, 
which  in  time  proves  to  have  as  much  of  the  spirit  of  the  camp. 
No,  let  us  go  forth  unto  Him !  to  closer  fellowship,  to  more 
entire  conformity  to  Him  the  Cross-bearer,  to  His  meek  and 
patient  and  loving  spirit.  Let  us  not  cast  our  reproach  on  those 
we  leave  behind,  but  let  us  bear — His  reproach. 

Let  us  go  forth.  In  the  summing  up  of  the  Epistle  (chap,  x.) 
it  was.  Let  us  draw  nigh,  let  us  enter  in ;  here  it  is,  Let  us  go 
forth.  The  two  words  gather  up  all  the  teaching  of  the  Epistle, 
all  the  need  of  the  Christian  life.  There  are  two  places  appointed 
for  the  believer  in  the  power  of  Christ's  redemption — within  the 
veil,  to  worship  ;  without  the  gate,  to  witness.     In  both  places 


532  ^be  t)olle6t  of  Bll 


he  can  count  upon  Christ  to  keep  him.  The  deeper  he  enters 
into  the  spirit  of  the  one,  the  more  will  he  realise  of  the  other. 
The  deeper  he  enters  within  the  veil,  the  more  will  he  feel  with- 
drawn from  the  spirit  of  the  camp  and  the  party.  And  the 
more  he  goes  forth  unto  Him,  bearing  His  reproach,  the  more 
will  he  find  access  through  Him  to  enter  in  into  His  glory.  In 
both  places  the  boldness  of  which  the  Epistle  has  spoken  so 
much  will  be  found  :  the  boldness  in  God's  presence  to  claim 
Christ  and  be  one  with  Him  ;  the  boldness  in  presence  of  the 
world  to  witness  for  Christ  as  one  with  Him.  Let  US  therefore 
go  forth  unto  Him. 

7.  Separated  from  the  world,  separated  unto  God— the  negative  and  the  positive  side  of  the 
Christian  life  ;  inseparably  and  most  blessedly  joined  to  each  other.  If  we  die  with  Him  we  shall 
also  live  with  Him. 

2.  There  is  perhaps  no  greater  need  in  our  day  than  that  God  should  open  the  eyes  of  His 
people  to  the  solemn  truth  that  the  so-called  Christian  world  is  the  very  same  world  that  rejected 
Christ.     We  are  to  bear  to  it  the  same  relation  He  did. 

3.  Christ  the  rejected  One,  Christ  the  glorified  One  :  the  disciples  were  not  fit  to  testify  of  Him 
till  the  Holy  Spirit  from  heaven  had  revealed  Him  in  their  hearts.  Much  less  can  we,  who  have 
never  seen  Him,  know  Him  in  truth  and  power  without  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  same  Pentecostal 
fulness  of  life,  revealing  Him  within  us. 


Zbe  Iboliest  of  BU  533 


CXXVL 

WELL-PLEASING  SACRIFICES. 

XIII.-15.  Through  him  then  let  us  offer  a  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God  con- 
tinually, that  is,  the  fruit  of  hps  which  make  confession  to  his  name. 

16.  But  to  do  good  and  to  communicate  forget  not:  for  with  such  sacrifices 
God  is  well  pleased. 

17.  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  to  them :  for  they 
watch  in  behalf  of  your  souls,  as  they  that  shall  give  account ;  that  they  may 
do  this  with  joy,  and  not  with  grief:  for  this  were  unprofitable  for  you. 

18.  Pray  for  us:  for  we  are  persuaded  that  we  have  a  good  conscience, 
desiring  to  live  honestly  in  all  things. 

19.  And  I  exhort  you  the  more  abxmdantly  to  do  this,  that  I  may  be  restored 
to  you  the  sooner. 

The  Hebrews  were  in  danger,  we  saw  this  in  the  previous 
verses,  of  being  led  to  seek  the  strengthening  of  their  reHgious 
life  in  returning  to  the  old  sacrifices.  They  have  been  reminded 
that  of  the  sin-offering  of  old,  the  type  of  Christ,  nothing  was 
eaten  ;  it  was  burnt  without  the  camp.  The  fellowship  of  Christ 
must  be  sought  in  another  way.  By  His  blood  He  sanctifies  us 
and  leads  us  into  the  Holiest ;  by  His  example  and  His  life  He 
leads  us  without  the  camp.  This  is  the  true  fellowship  of  the 
offering  of  Christ.  The  writer  will  now  tell  us  what  the  sacrifices 
are  in  which  we  may  still  take  part.  In  the  fellowship  of  Jesus 
and  His  one  sacrifice,  we  may  bring  the  sacrifices  of  praise,  of 
deeds  of  love  and  kindness,  of  humility  and  of  prayer. 

Through  Him  then  let  us  offer  up  a  sacrifice  of  praise  to 
God  continually,  that  is,  the  fruit  of  lips  which  make  con- 
fession of  His  name.     In  Hosea  we  find  Israel  saying  that  when 


534  Zbe  Ibolleet  of  au 


God  puts  away  their  iniquities,  they  will  render  Him  the  offering 
of  the  fruit  of  their  lips.  These  are  the  sacrifices  God  asks  and 
is  well  pleased  with.  These  we  may  bring  continually — the 
fruit  of  lips  which  make  confession  of  His  name.  Speech  is  one 
of  man's  most  wonderful  endowments ;  the  power  of  revealing 
and  committing  himself  Christ  has  redeemed  us  wholly  for 
Himself;  our  lips  belong  to  Him,  and  He  claims  that  we  shall 
speak  of  Him  and  praise  Him  continually.  For  our  own  sake, 
for  His  sake,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  hear  us,  it  is  an  indis- 
pensable element  of  a  vigorous  Christian  life.  There  can  be  no 
continuous  joyful  life  within  the  veil,  if  we  do  not  as  priests 
continually  bring  these  sacrifices. 

But  to  do  good  and  to  communicate  forget  not.  In  our 
Christian  fellowship,  and  in  the  world  around  us,  Christ  has 
given  us  the  poor  and  needy  that  we  may  show  in  them  what 
we  would  like  to  do  to  Him,  if  He  were  on  earth.  Let  the 
Christian  study  to  combine  a  life  with  God  in  the  Holiest  with 
lips  that  praise  and  confess  Him.  And  this,  again,  with  deeds  of 
love  and  kindness  and  Christian  help  that  prove  that  the  Spirit 
of  Jesus  is  in  us,  that  wc  are  walking  in  practical  fellowship  with 
His  self-sacrifice.  And  let  every  act  of  love  and  kindness  be  laid 
at  God's  feet  as  a  sacrifice  to  Him.  For  with  such  sacrifices  God 
is  well  pleased.  They  are  to  Him  a  sweeter  savour  than  the 
sweetest  incense.  And  as  we  offer  them  indeed  to  Ilim  in  faith, 
they  will  bring  our  hearts  the  assurance  that  wc  are  well- 
pleasing. 

Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  to 
them.  Obedience  and  submission,  even  to  men,  for  the  Lord's 
sake ;  these,  too,  are  elements  of  the  self-sacrifice,  which  is  well- 
pleasing  to  God.     In  the  New  Testament  we  have  no  longer  a 


TLbc  iboliest  of  Bll  ^35 


priestly  caste,  to  intervene  between  God  and  men  ;  all  God's 
saints  are  priests.  But  we  have  a  God-ordained  ministry  with 
the  gifts  and  the  setting  apart,  and  the  duties  and  the  authority, 
of  which  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  teach  us  so  fully.  This  is  no 
mere  human  arrangement,  but  an  appointment  of  Christ  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  through  which  He  carries  out  His  work  as  the 
great  Priest  over  the  house  of  God.  Such  rulers  are  no  lords 
over  God's  heritage,  and  yet  have  a  claim  to  the  honour  due  to 
them.  The  relation  between  the  teacher  and  the  taught  is  of 
such  importance  in  the  Church,  the  power  of  the  teaching  and 
the  watching  depends  so  much  on  the  spirit  of  harmony  and 
love,  that  this  element  of  the  Christian  life  must  be  carefully 
cultivated  if  we  are  to  suffer  no  harm.  Obey  and  submit: 
these  are  words  that  may  not  be  forgotten,  for  they  watch  in 
behalf  of  your  souls,  as  they  that  shall  give  account. 

Pray  for  us :  And  I  exhort  you  the  more  abundantly  to 
do  this,  that  I  may  be  restored  to  you  the  sooner.  Prayer, 
too,  is  one  of  the  sacrifices  we  may  offer;  Jesus  Himself  in  the 
garden  offered  prayers  and  supplications.  The  writer,  in  the 
very  spirit  in  which  Paul  writes,  not  only  asks  for  prayer,  but 
believes  that  the  intercession  of  the  Church  will  hasten  his 
restoration  to  them.  Our  life  in  the  Holiest  is  indeed  to  be  no 
selfish  luxury  ;  there  is  work  there  for  us — work  that  calls  for 
self-denial  and  self-sacrifice.  Let  us  pray  much  for  God's 
servants  and  all  His  saints  ;  and  let  us  be  sure  that  nowhere 
may  greater  wonders  be  wrought  by  faith,  than  as  it  deals  with 
God  in  prayer. 

Christian,  you  are  a  priest !  You  have  access  into  the 
Holiest!  Christ  went  in  with  the  blood  of  His  sacrifice.  Enter 
you  continually  with  your  sacrifice — the  praise  of  God  and  the 
confession  of  His  name ;   deeds   of  charity    and   beneficence ; 


336  Ebe  1)oliedt  Oi  BlI 


obedience  and  submission  to  those  over  you  in  the  Lord  ;  prayer 
and  intercession — through  Him  let  us  continually  offer. 

1.  Through  Him  !  God  can  have  no  communication  with  the  creature  but  through  Him, 
that  is,  as  He  is  in  His  Son.  And  we  can  have  no  access  to  God  with  our  service  but  through 
Him,  that  is,  as  we  are  in  the  Son,  and  He  is  In  us.  God  can  delight  in  nothing  but  the  perfect 
image  of  His  Son.  Let  us,  by  faith,  abide  in  Him,  and  so  through  Him  offer  continually 
sacrifices  that  arc  well'pleasing.     As  the  great  High  Priest,  He  worhs  it  in  us  through  His  Spirit. 

2.  Through  Him  a  sacrifice  of  praise :  that  is,  in  the  joy  which  He  gives  we  praise  God 
continually. 

3.  Self-sacrifice—the  power  and  the  glory  of  Christ's  life  upon  earth.  What  a  privilege 
that  our  whole  life,  like  His,  may  be  one  of  sacrifice  too :  the  sacrifice  of  praise  and  confession, 
of  love  and  beneficence,  of  humility  and  submission,  of  prayer  and  intercession. 


Cbc  iboUeet  of  ail  537 


CXXVII. 

THE  GOD  OF  PEACE-AND  WHAT  HE  HAS  DONE  FOR  US. 

XIII.— 20.  Now  the  God  of  peace,  who  brought  again  from  the  dead  the 
great  shepherd  of  the  sheep  in  the  blood  of  the  eternal  covenant,  even  our 
Lord  Jesus, 

21.  Make  you  perfect. 

The  Epistle  began  by  telling  us  that  in  all  that  Christ  is  and 
does  it  is  God  speaking  in  us.  The  great  work  of  Christ  is  to  bring 
us  to  God ;  His  death  and  His  blood,  His  ascension  and  sitting 
on  the  throne,  all  mean  one  thing — our  being  brought  nigh  to 
dwell  in  God's  presence.  And  with  what  object  ?  That  God 
may  have  us,  to  perfect  us,  and  work  in  us  that  which  is  well- 
pleasing  in  His  sight.  Let  no  one  think  that  the  entrance  into 
the  Holiest  is  the  end,  it  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  true 
Christian  life.  It  brings  us  into  the  right  place  and  the  right 
position,  in  which  God  now,  in  His  divine  power,  can  work  out 
His  own  power  in  us,  can  make  us  in  full  truth  one  with  Christ, 
can  work  the  likeness  of  Christ  into  us. 

We  have  reached  the  close  of  the  Epistle.  The  writer 
gathers  up  all  his  teaching  in  the  two  verses  of  this  beautiful 
closing  prayer.  As  in  it  he  commits  his  readers  to  God,  the 
mention  of  God's  name  calls  up  all  that  he  has  said  of  God's 
work,  and  the  first  of  the  two  verses  is  a  summing  up  of  all  that 
God  has  done  for  us  to  bring  us  to  Himself.  Then  follows,  in  the 
second    the  prayer,  with  its  promise  of  all  that  we  can  count 


538  Jibe  Dollest  of  Bll 


upon  this  God  to  do  in  us,  that  wc  may  live  worthy  of  Him. 
He  points  to  the  work  God  has  done  for  us,  as  the  ground  and 
pledge  of  what  He  will  do  in  us.  The  Epistle  has  revealed  to 
us  God  in  Christ ;  it  seeks  to  send  us  out  into  life  with  the 
assurance  that  as  wonderful  and  mighty  and  perfect  as  was  the 
work  of  God  in  Christ  for  us,  will  be  His  work  through  Christ, 
by  the  Spirit,  in  us.  Let  each  one  who  has  listened  to  the  call, 
Let  us  draw  nigh,  remember  that  he  has  been  brought  to  God, 
that  God  may  now  reveal  Christ  in  Him,  and,  as  completely  as 
He  perfected  Christ,  perfect  each  one  of  us  to  do  His  will. 
The  more  we  look  to  what  God  has  done  in  Christ,  as  the 
pledge  of  what  He  will  do  in  us,  with  the  more  confidence  will 
our  faith  accept  and  expect  it.  And  the  more  our  desire  is 
set  upon  the  wonderful  work  God  is  yet  to  do  in  us,  the  more 
will  our  heart  be  fixed  in  adoration  on  God  Himself  as  our 
hope  and  our  joy. 

The  God  of  peace.  This  is  the  name  by  which  we  are 
invited  to  call  upon  and  trust  our  God.  Peace  is  the  opposite 
of  enmity,  of  war,  of  care,  of  unrest.  Where  everything  is 
finished  and  perfect,  there  is  peace  and  rest.  God  hath  set  the 
Holiest  open  for  us,  in  token  that  we  may  enter  into  His  rest, 
and  trust  Him  to  perfect  His  work  in  us.  The  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  all  understanding,  can  now  keep  our  hearts  and 
minds  by  Christ  Jesus.  Peace,  an  end  of  all  care  and  fear  and 
separation,  has  been  proclaimed ;  the  God  of  peace  is  now 
waiting  to  do  His  work  in  us. 

Who  brought  again  from  the  dead  the  great  Shepherd 
of  the  sheep,  in  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant. 
The  Epistle  has  nowhere  directly  made  mention  of  the 
resurrection  of  Christ.  But  this  was  not  needful  :  all  its 
teaching  was  based  upon  the  fact  that  He  who  died  and  shed 


XLbc  Iboliest  of  ail  539 


His  blood  is  now  living  in  heaven.  We  have  studied  the 
Epistle  in  vain,  and  we  shall  in  vain  attempt  to  live  the  true 
Christian  life,  if  we  have  not  learnt  that  our  salvation  is  not  in 
the  death  of  Jesus  but  in  His  life — in  His  death  only  as  the 
gate  to  the  risen  life.  And  so  the  God  of  peace,  whom  we  are 
now  invited  to  trust  in,  is  spoken  of  as  He  who  raised  Jesus, 
the  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  who  gave  His  life  for  them,  from  the 
dead.  Scripture  ever  points  to  the  resurrection  as  the  mightiest 
part  of  God's  mighty  power ;  the  God  of  the  resurrection  is  to 
be  the  God  in  whom  we  trust  for  the  work  to  be  done  in  us. 
He  has  raised  Christ,  as  the  Shepherd,  who  watches  and  tends 
His  sheep,  through  whom  He  will  do  His  work. 

In  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant.  We  know 
how  the  blood  has  been  coupled  in  the  Epistle  with  the 
redemption  of  transgressions,  the  opening  of  the  entrance  into 
heaven,  and  the  cleansing  of  the  heart  from  all  conscience  of 
sin.  Were  it  not  for  that  blood-shedding  Christ  had  never 
risen  from  the  dead.  In  that  blood,  even  the  blood  of  the 
everlasting  covenant,  which  could  only  be  made  after  there  had 
been  a  redemption  for  transgressions,  God  raised  Jesus  from 
the  dead.  It  was  the  blood  that  sealed  the  covenant,  by  which 
the  covenant  blessings  of  perfect  pardon,  of  the  law  written  in 
the  heart,  and  direct  fellowship  with  God  were  secured  to  us. 
It  was  the  blood  that  had  conquered  sin  and  death  and  hell, 
that  could  give  the  entrance  into  heaven,  and  cleanse  the  sinner's 
heart  for  the  reception  and  experience  of  the  heavenly  life. 
And  as  those  who  are  sprinkled  with  this  blood,  the  secret  of 
resurrection  power,  we  are  invited  to  trust  the  God  of  the  resur- 
rection to  work  in  us. 

The  God  of  peace,  who  hath  raised  Jesus  from  the  dead  in  the 
blood  of  the  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work 


'40  zbe  IboUcst  of  Hll 


to  do  His  will.  The  God  who  perfected  His  Son  through 
suffering  to  do  His  will,  until  He  raised  Him  in  triumph  over 
death  to  His  own  right  hand— O  soul!  this  same  God  is  wait- 
ing to  do  this  same  work  in  thee  in  the  same  power.  What  He 
did  in  Christ  for  thee  is  all  for  the  sake  of  what  He  is  nozv  day 
by  day  to  do  in  thee.  All  that  thou  hast  learnt  of  the  wonders 
of  His  redeeming  work,  and  His  receiving  thee  into  the  Holiest, 
is  that  thou  mightest  now  confidently  trust  and  expect  Him  to 
take  possession  of  thee  and  perfect  His  work  within  thee.  Oh, 
let  us  draw  nigh  and  enter  in,  in  the  restful,  adoring  assurance 
that  God  will  perfect  us  in  every  good  thing. 

/.  Peace  is  rest.  To  know  the  God  of  peace  is  to  enter  the  rest  of  God.  And  until 
the  soul  rests  in  Him  in  Sabbath  peace,  God  cannot  do  His  higher,  His  perfect  work. 

2.  The  work  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  for  us  find  their  completion  in  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  within  us.  All  the  objective  revelation  is  for  the  sake  of  the  subjectiue 
experience,  the  mighty  power  of  God  working  in  the  heart  of  His  child  what  He  longs  to 
sec.     It  is  in  what  God  makes  us,  that  the  power  of  the  redemption  in  Christ  is  proved. 

3.  By  faith.  Here  more  than  ever  this  must  be  our  watchword.  Faith  that  sees 
and  accepts  and  dwells  in  all  God  has  done  for  us  in  Christ,  and  then  counts  upon  His 
faithfulness  and  power  to  make  it  all  real  within  us  in  Christ  through  the  Spirit. 

4.  As  it  was  through  the  Spirit  that  God  wrought  that  perfect  work  in  Christ  by 
which  fallen  human  nature,  as  He  had  taken  it  upon  Himself,  was  redeemed  and  raised 
up  and  glorified,  so  nothing  can  make  us  partakers  of  that  redeeming  and  quickening 
power  but  that  same  Spirit,  truly  living  and  working  in  our  soul  and  body,  in  the  same 
manner  as  it  did  in  the  humanity  of  Christ. 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  mi  541 


CXXVIII. 

THE    GOD   OF   PEACE-WHAT   HE   WILL   DO   IN   US. 

XIII.— 20.  The  God  of  peace.  .  .  . 

21.  Make  you  perfect  in  every  good  thing  to  do  his  will,  working  in  us 
that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ;  to  whom  be 
the  glory  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen. 

In  our  last  meditation  we  saw  what  the  link  is  between  the  two 
verses  of  this  wonderful  benediction.  All  that  God  has  done  in 
the  redemption  in  Christ  is  for  the  sake  of  what  He  wishes  to 
effect  in  our  heart.     All  that  He  makes  known  to  us  of  that 

redemption  is  to  bring  us  to  trust  and  yield  ourselves  to  Him, 

to  work  out  the  inner,  the  subjective  redemption  in  the  same 
power  in  which  the  objective,  the  heavenly  redemption,  has  been 
effected.  The  Father  longs  to  have  back  again  the  man  He  lost 
in  paradise,  His  image  and  likeness  restored  within  us.  All  that 
Christ  hath  done  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  even  to  His  sitting  at 
His  right  hand,  cannot  satisfy  the  heart  of  God  until  He  sees 
the  kingdom  set  up  within  our  heart.  There  the  true  power  and 
glory  of  the  Son  are  manifested. 

The  God  of  peace  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  thing 
to  do  His  will.  To  do  His  will.  This,  then,  is  the  object 
of  all  that  God  has  done.  That  the  Son,  who  is  God,  should 
be    our    Redeemer ;    that    the    stupendous    miracles    of    the 


r.42  zbe  Doltcst  ot  ail 


incarnation  and  the  atonement,  the  resurrection  and  the  seating 
of  a  man  on  the  throne  of  God,  should  be  wrought,  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  should  be  poured  out  from  heaven, — all  was 
with  one  view,  that  we  should  de  brongJU  to  do  the  zuill  of  God. 
The  whole  relation  between  God  and  the  creature  depends  on 
this  one  thing :  without  it  there  can  be  no  true  fellowship  with 
God.  It  was  for  this  Jesus  became  man:  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy 
will,  O  God.  It  was  through  this  He  redeemed  us.  It  is  to 
make  us  partakers  of  the  power  to  do  this,  that,  as  Mediator  of 
the  covenant.  He  puts  the  law  in  our  heart,  that  we  may  do  the 
will  of  God  on  earth  as  in  heaven.  It  is  for  this  alone  He  lives 
in  heavefi  :  the  only  proof  and  measure  of  the  success  of  His 
work  is  that  we  do  the  will  of  God.  Without  this,  all  His  work 
and  ours  is  in  vain. 

Now  the  God  of  peace  make  you  perfect  in  every  good 
work  to  do  His  will.  The  doing  of  God's  will  depends  entirely 
upon  God's  fitting  us  for  it.  As  truly  as  God  Himself  perfected 
Christ  and  wrought  out  the  redemption  in  Him,  must  God  perfect 
us  to  do  His  will.  As  surely  as  He  did  the  first.  He  will  do  the 
second.  The  word  "  perfect  "  used  here  means,  to  put  into  the 
right  position  or  condition,  to  readjust,  to  equip,  to  fit  a  thing 
perfectly  for  its  purpose.  The  prayer,  God  make  you  perfect  in 
every  good  thing,  teaches  that  the  work  of  God  is  not  only  a 
general  enabling  or  endowing  with  power,  leaving  to  us  its 
use  and  application,  but  that  He  must  perfect  us  in  each 
one  of  the  good  things  we  have  to  do ;  so  alone  can  we 
do  His  will.  It  calls  us  to  an  ab.solute  dependence  upon 
the  Father,  as  Jesus  meant,  when  He  said,  The  Son  ca?t 
do  nothing  of  Himself.  It  seeks  to  bring  us  to  a  helpless- 
ness and  a  humility  that  just  yields  itself  to  God  for  every 
moment,  and  counts  upon   Him,  even  as  He  wrought  out  the 


Zbe  Ibollest  of  ail  r.43 


great  salvation  in  Christ  as  a  whole,  to  work  it  in  us  in  each 
minutest  particular.  With  God  nothing  is  small  or  insignificant. 
He  must  be  in  things,  little  as  great.  All  in  All. 

Working  in  you  that  which  is  pleasing  in  His  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ.  Here  we  have  the  explanation  of  how  He 
perfects  in  us  every  good  thing :  He  ivorks  in  us  througJi  Jesus 
Christ.  The  three  persons  of  the  Godhead  are  indivisibly  and 
inseparably  one.  The  Father  works  through  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Spirit.  When  Jesus,  our  Priest-King,  ascended  the  throne, 
He  sent  from  the  Father  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  within  us,  the 
power  and  life  of  His  redemption  in  heaven.  Then  the  minis- 
tration of  the  Spirit,  of  the  inner  life,  began  upon  earth — God 
working  in  men  what  is  pleasing  in  His  sight,  through  Jesus 
Christ  dwelling  in  the  heart.  Then  the  fruit  of  Christ's  work 
was  made  manifest ;  men  on  earth  in  very  deed  doing  the  will 
of  God,  and  working  what  was  pleasing  in  His  sight,  because  He 
Himself  worked  it  in  them,  through  Jesus  Christ. 

Let  this  parting  prayer  teach  us  a  double  lesson.  It  is  a 
promise  of  what  God  will  do.  He  ivill perfect  us — put  us  in  the 
right  position,  and  give  us  the  right  condition  of  heart — 
in  every  good  thing,  to  do  His  will, — Himself  working  in  us 
that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  His  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Let  us  read  the  words  until  we  know  in  truth  what  God  is 
waiting  to  do.  The  prayer  becomes  then  a  call  to  us  to  prayer 
and  faith.  Let  us  fix  our  hearts  in  faith  on  God  and  what  He 
has  wrought  through  Christ  for  us.  Let  us  fix  them  in  faith 
on  what  He  will  do  in  us  through  Christ,  as  surely  and  as 
mightily.  All  that  God  has  done  in  Chi'ist  is  only  a  beginning, 
a  promise,  a  pledge  of  zvhat  He  will  do  in  us.  Let  that  faith 
stir  our  desire  to  rest  content  with  nothing  less  than  the 
actual   experience  of  the  truth  of  this  prayer- promise.      Let 


->u  Cbc  t)ollC6t  of  ail 


that  faith  begin  in  prayer  to  claim  and  embrace  and  own  it 
as  our  v^ery  own,  waiting  in  deep  dependence  and  humility  on 
God  to  do  it.  And  let  every  thought  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Hebrews  just  culminate  in  a  blessed  act  of  adoring  surrender. 
O  Thou,  God  of  Peace !  here  I  am,  thou  wilt  do  it. 

1.  God  working  in  us.  Loofi  upward  in  wonder  and  worship.  Turn  inward  in  stillness  and 
meekness  of  heart,  tatting  time  to  yield  to  the  Spirit's  working.  And  regard  thy  heart  as  indeed 
the  sphere  of  the  working  of  the  liuing  God. 

2.  Pray,  pray,  pray  !  The  blessing  of  the  Epistle,  the  power  of  redemption,  must  come  from 
aboue.     It  comes  certainly  to  the  heart  open  towards  God  and  thirsting  for  Him. 

3.  Make  you  perfect :  ft  you  perfectly  to  be  subject  to  Him,  and  in  dependence  and  humility 
and  faith  to  work  what  He  works  in  you.  It  is  often  a  misapprehension  or  a  difficulty  that  hinders. 
Ood  can  restore  you  in  one  moment  to  the  right  relation  or  position. 

4.  A  road  is  only  good  for  that  to  which  it  brings  as  its  end.  The  whole  gospel  is  nothing  but 
a  way  to  this  endi  God  finding  His  place  in  our  heart  to  dwell  and  work  there  that  which  is 
pleasing  in  His  sight,  so  that  we  do  His  will. 


Zbc  IboUest  of  BU  545 


CXXIX. 

GLORY  BE  TO  GOD. 

XIII.— 21.  Working  in  you  that  which  is  pleasing  in  His  sight,  through 
Jesus  Christ ;  to  whom  be  the  glory  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen. 

To  whom  be  the  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  No  wonder  that  the 
heart  of  the  author  bursts  out  in  adoration.  In  the  closing 
prayer  he  had  summed  up  all  the  glory  of  what  God  had  done 
in  Christ,  and  was  now  waiting  to  work  in  us.  He  has  pro- 
nounced over  his  readers  the  blessing  of  the  God  who  hath 
revealed  Himself  in  His  Son,  and  longs  to  reveal  Himself  in  us 
for  our  complete  deliverance,  and  his  whole  soul  bows  in  wonder, 
joy,  and  worship.  The  sight  of  the  God  who  has  raised  Jesus 
from  the  dead,  drawing  nigh  to  do  His  mighty  work  in  us  too, 
brings  the  song  to  His  lips :  To  Him  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever! 
Oh  that  we  may  ever  learn  so  to  study  and  admire  and  appro- 
priate the  mysteries  of  redeeming  grace  that  every  mention  of  it 
leads  to  the  spontaneons  outburst :  G/ory  be  to  God ! 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  whom  refers  to  God  or  to  Christ. 
It  appears  more  probable  that  the  writer  meant  God,  to  whom 
and  whose  glorious  work  the  whole  prayer  refers.  But  the 
question  will  cause  us  no  difficulty.  In  Scripture  the  same 
adoration  is  given  to  the  Son  as  to  the  Father  (see  2  Tim.  iv.  13; 
2  Pet.  iii.  18  ;  Rev.  i.  6).  The  throne  is  that  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  All  the  honour  that  goes  up  to  the  Father  goes  through 
35 


■'■»4(3  Zbc  tbolicst  or  ail 


the  Son  ;  He  shares  in  it.  And  all  the  honour  given  to  the 
Son,  goes  through  Him  to  the  Father.  It  is  ever  of  God  in 
Christ  we  say,  To  whom  be  glory. 

Without  this  note  of  praise  it  is  as  if  there  would  have  been 
something  wanting  in  the  Epistle.  In  God's  temple  the  chief 
thing  is  the  praise  and  honour  of  Him  who  dwells  there.  The 
Epistle  has  opened  up  to  us  the  way  into  the  Holiest.  It  has 
spoken  to  us  of  the  glory  of  the  Priest-King  whom  God  has  set 
at  His  own  right  hand,  for  our  sakes,  and  of  His  all-prevailing 
blood,  and  of  the  entrance  we  have  into  God's  presence  for  Him 
to  reign  and  work  in  us,  and  fit  us  to  enjoy  and  toserv'e  Him.  It 
has  spoken  of  the  continual  sacrifice  of  praise  we  ought  to 
render.  And  yet  the  writer  has  never  sounded  a  note  of  praise. 
But  here,  at  last,  when  he  calls  us  to  look  back  to  all  that  God 
has  done  for  us,  and  forward  to  all  that  He  will  do  in  us,  the 
voice  of  adoration  sounds  forth  :  To  Him  be  glory  for  ever  and 
ever.  The  joy  of  heaven  consists  in  this  that  they  rest  not  day 
nor  night  in  the  worship  and  praise  of  God  and  the  Lamb ;  if  we 
are  indeed  come  to  Mount  Sion,  and  into  the  very  presence  of 
God  Himself,  let  our  life  and  walk  ever  be  in  the  spirit  of 
adoration  :  To  Him  be  glory  for  ever !  The  man  who  has  not 
learned  to  praise,  with  whom  it  never  breaks  out  spontaneously, 
has  not  learned  to  know  his  God  aright,  has  not  yet  tasted  the 
joy  of  a  full  salvation. 

If  we  would  learn  the  secret  of  a  life  giving  glory  to  God,  on 
earth  as  in  heaven,  it  must  be  found  in  the  faith  and  the  expe- 
rience spoken  of  in  the  prayer  to  which  this  doxology  belongs. 
The  praise  was  born  out  of  it,  in  the  heart  of  the  writer  ;  it  must 
be  so  with  our  hearts  too.  The  more  we  gaze  upon  Christ  our 
Priest-King,  and  upon  His  precious,  cleansing,  saving  blood,  and 
upon  the  new  covenant,  sealed  in  that  blood,  and  the  new  heart 


Zbc  Iboliest  of  au  547 


with  God's  Spirit  in  it  as  our  law,  and  upon  God  Himself  who 
hath  done  it  all,  the  more  we  shall  feel  urged  to  fall  down  and 
worship,  To  Him  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  But  especially 
as  we  claim  and  realise  and  yield  ourselves  to  the  promise  which 
is  the  outcome  of  this  great  redemption,  God  perfect  you  in 
every  good  thing  to  do  His  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is 
pleasing  in  His  sight,  our  hearts  will  swell  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  praise  unutterable,  that  can  only  find  relief  in  the  cry. 
To  Him  be  glory,  to  Him  be  glory  ! 

I  know  that  it  is  just  here  a  difficulty  will  come  to  many. 
The  promise  appears  so  high,  and  its  fulfilment  in  their  experi- 
ence, God  perfecting  them  in  every  good  thing,  so  impossible, 
that  even  the  praise  which  came,  when  they  thought  upon 
what  God  had  done,  passes  away.  Let  me  speak  one  word  to 
such.  Just  look  at  this  great  universe.  The  God  who  made  it 
all,  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars,  the  mighty  mountains  and  the 
great  ocean  ;  this  God  cares  for  every  blade  of  grass  and  gives 
it  its  life  and  beauty.  The  greatest  and  the  least  are  alike  to 
Him  ;  He  cares  for  the  whole  and  for  each  minute  detail.  And. 
even  so.  He  who  wrought  out  the  mighty  redemption  in  Christ 
is  now  still  working  out,  in  the  same  power  and  love,  its  applica- 
tion in  every  soul,  in  every  moment  and  in  every  circumstance. 
God  has  not  done  part,  and  left  part  dependent  on  us.  God  is 
all,  and  must  in  very  deed  do  all.  As  the  God  of  peace,  who 
raised  Christ  from  the  dead,  He  must  work  in  you  every  good 
thing  that  can  be  pleasing  in  His  sight.  And  He  will  do  it. 
What  He  began  in  Christ,  He  will  finish  in  you.  A  great  artist 
attends  to  the  minutest  details.  God  is  engaged,  as  He  perfected 
Christ  the  Head,  in  perfecting  every  member  of  His  body.  He 
does  this  by  Himself  working  in  us.  The  Spirit  of  God's  Son 
sent   into  our  heart  as  an   inward  life,  Christ  dwelling  in  our 


548  crbc  -tooiicst  or  an 


heart,  God  working  in  us — oh,  it  is  when  this  is  beHeved,  and 
waited  for,  and  in  some  measure  ex[)erienced,  that  the  whole  life 
becomes  a  song  of  praise :  To  Him  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever ! 
Brother!  Having  boldness  through  the  blood,  let  us  draw 
nigh,  and  dwell  in  God's  presence.  Let  us  worship  Him  for 
what  He  hath  done.  Let  us  in  tenderness  of  spirit  adore  Him 
as  the  God  who  is  working  in  us  through  Christ  Jesus.  Let  us 
in  deep  humility  yield  ourselves  to  Him,  to  be  made  so  fully  one 
with  Christ  that  Christ  may  be  seen  to  dwell  in  us.  And  the 
flame  of  God's  love  will  break  out  and  burn  and  rise  heavenward 
without  ceasing  :  To  Him  be  glory  !  to  Him  be  glory  for  ever 
and  ever ! 

■  7.  As  in  heaven  so  on  earth.  What  God  hath  wrought  in  heaven,  through  Christ,  is  the 
pledge  of  what  He  will  worh  in  my  heart.  As  I  receive  this  into  my  heart,  His  will  will  be  done  in 
me,  on  earth  as  in  heaven,  because  He  does  it  Himself.  And  as  in  heaven,  so  in  my  heart,  the 
praise  will  never  end. 

2.  My  heart,  the  temple  where  God  dwells  and  reveals  His  worh  and  His  glory ;  all  in  the 
hidden  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

3.  To  Him  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever  !  Lord  Jesus  !  the  great  High  Priest  beside  the  altar, 
the  minister  of  the  sanctuary,  it  is  Thy  care  that  the  fire  ever  burns,  and  the  song  never  ends,  to 
the  glory  of  the  Father, 


ZbC  fbOliCSt  of  mi  549 


CXXX. 

PARTING  WORDS. 

XIII.— 22.  But  I  exhort  you,  brethren,  bear  with  the  word  of  exhortation : 
for  I  have  written  unto  you  in  a  few  words. 

23.  Know  ye  that  our  brother  Timothy  hath  bee  a  set  at  liberty;  with 
whom,  if  he  come  shortly,  I  will  see  you. 

24.  Salute  all  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  all  the  saints.    They 
of  Italy  salute  you. 

25.  Grace  be  with  you  all.    Amen. 

These  closing  verses  are  so  entirely  in  the  spirit  of  Paul,  that 
involuntarily  we  feel  as  if  we  were  listening  to  him.  The 
mention  of  a  Timothy,  of  his  deliverance  and  of  the  hope  of 
accompanying  him,  the  greeting  to  the  rulers  in  the  Church 
and  to  all  the  saints,  the  greetings  from  the  saints  of  Italy, 
and  the  final  benediction,  all  remind  us  of  what  we  find  in  his 
Epistles. 

I  exhort  you,  brethren,  bear  with  the  word  of  exhortation. 
Ere  the  writer  closes,  one  more  word  of  exhortation,  and  that  is, 
to  bear,  to  submit  to  and  accept  the  exhortation  he  has  sent 
them.  The  word  he  uses  means  both  admonition  or  reproot 
(so  xii.  5),  and  encouragement  (so  vi.  i8).  The  Epistle  has  com- 
bined both  elements  most  remarkably.  In  the  five  warnings, 
and  in  its  hortatory  parts,   its  tone  has  been  one  of  faithful 


550  iibe  -toolieet  ot  Bil 


reproof,  with  a  view  to  convict  of  sin,  to  awaken  to  a  sense  of 
danger,  and  to  urge  to  repentance.  At  the  same  time,  every- 
thing has  been  done  to  quicken  faith  and  hope,  and  to  urge  to 
steadfastness  by  pointing  to  the  strong  encouragement  to  be 
found  in  the  word  of  God  and  the  power  of  Christ. 

To  us  the  closing  message  comes  too  :  Bear,  yield  yourselves 
to,  the  word  of  exhortation.  Exhortation  is  indeed  the  main 
characteristic  of  the  Epistle.  It  comes  to  us  as  an  intensely 
practical,  personal  appeal,  to  give  ourselves  wholly  to  the  Son 
of  God  from  heaven,  and  to  live  the  heavenly  life  He  offers  to 
work  within  us.  We  may  gather  up  its  chief  thoughts  in  four 
of  the  words  it  has  used  more  than  once. 

Take  heed  !  Its  tone  is  one  of  solemn  warning  against  the 
danger  of  negligence  and  sloth,  disobedience  and  double- 
mindedness,  unbelief  and  falling  away.  Let  us  yield  to  its 
discovery  of  sin  and  danger.  Let  us  beware  lest  the  content- 
ment with  beginnings,  a  resting  short  of  an  entire  devotion  to 
God  and  perfect  conformity  to  Jesus,  a  selfish  desire  to  have 
salvation  and  heaven  without  the  very  Spirit  of  Christ  and  of 
heaven,  deceive  us,  so  that,  like  Israel,  we  perish  half-way 
between  Egypt  and  Canaan. 

Press  on !  Let  us  accept  its  teaching  of  what  the  true  aim 
of  the  Christian  life  is.  We  are  to  give  due  diligence  to  enter 
and  dwell  in  the  rest  of  God.  We  are  to  press  on  to  perfection  ; 
to  be  like  men  running  a  race  for  life.  We  are  to  take  Jesus  as 
our  Leader  and  Forerunner,  to  follow  Him  in  the  path  of  perfect 
obedience  to  God's  will,  and  entire  self-sacrifice.  We  are  to 
enter  with  Him  into  the  Holiest,  to  make  God's  presence  our 
home,  and  His  fellowship  our  daily  portion  and  our  chief  joy. 
We  are  to  be  like  the  old  saints,  to  go  out  from  our  home,  to  live 
in  the  pilgrim  spirit,  seeking  a  heavenly  country.     Vea,  wc  are 


^be  Ibolicst  of  HU  55i 


to  live  as  those  who  are  come  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem.  We 
are  to  go  forth  to  Him  without  the  camp  bearing  His  reproach, 
wholly  identified  with  Him.  Let  us  press  on.  Let  us  run. 
Let  us  enter  in.  Let  us  go  forth.  This  is  what  the  exhortation 
means. 

Consider  Jesus.  The  one  sure  and  effectual  remedy  the 
Epistle  offers  for  all  the  prevailing  feebleness  and  danger  of  the 
Christian  life,  we  know.  It  has  been  said  to  us,  You  do  not 
know  Jesus  aright.  The  knowledge  that  sufficed  for  conver- 
sion, does  not  avail  for  sanctification  and  perfection.  You  must 
know  Jesus  better.  Consider  Jesus  !  As  God  !  As  Man  !  In 
His  sympathy!  In  His  obedience!  In  His  suffering!  In  His 
blood  !  In  His  glory  on  the  throne  ;  opening  heaven  ;  bringing 
you  in  to  God  ;  breathing  the  law  of  God  and  the  Spirit  of 
heaven  into  your  heart,  as  your  very  life !  As  little  as  you  can 
reach  heaven  with  your  hand,  can  you  of  yourself  live  such  a 
heavenly  life.  And  yet  it  is  possible,  because  God  has  borne 
witness  to  the  Gospel  of  His  Son  with  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  Priest-King,  on  His  ascension  to  the  throne,  sent 
down  the  Holy  Spirit  into  the  hearts  of  His  disciples,  and  with 
Him  returned  Himself  to  dwell  in  them,  that  in  the  power  of 
His  heavenly  life  they  might  live  with  Him.  Consider  Jesus ! 
and  you  will  see  that  you  can  live  in  the  heavenlies  with  Him, 
because  He  lives  in  you. 

By  faith!  This  word  is  the  key  to  all.  By  faith!  in 
fulness  of  faith  !  we  can  inherit  every  promise.  Faith  is  moved 
with  godly  fear,  and  takes  heed  !  Faith  obeys  and  forsakes  all, 
and  presses  on  to  enter  the  land  !  Faith  looks  to  Jesus,  holds 
fast  its  boldness,  and  draws  nigh  to  God,  and  goes  forth  without 
the  camp.  Faith  sees  how  in  Christ  God  has  worked  out  His 
will,  sees  that  this  God  will  just  as  surely  work  in  us  too  what 


552  ZbC  t>0UC6t  Of  ail 


is  pleasing  in  His  sight,  and  conquers  every  difficulty  and  every 
enemy.  By  faith  we  inherit  every  promise,  and  dare  to  sing 
even  now  :    7o  Hivi  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever  ! 

h  You  will  find  it  most  profitable  to  look  back  over  the  whole  Epistle,  and  see  whether  you 
have  qrasped  its  teaching.  And  then  to  say  whether  you  are  making  it  the  one  aim  of  your  life  to 
Hue  up  fully  to  its  glorious  revelation  of  the  life  of  God. 

2.  The  Holiest  of  All  is  the  title  of  our  book.  I  think  you  see  how  it  expresses  the  central 
thought  of  the  Epistle.  It  is  the  spiritual  life-state  into  which  Jesus  entered,  and  opened  the  way 
for  you,  and  calls  you  to  enter  in.  Have  you  entered?  Are  you  dwelling  there?  Are  you  there 
now  daily  drinking  in  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Jesus,  yielding  to  the  Father  to  make  you  perfectly 
conformed  to  the  humble,  obedient,  holy  Jesus,  your  Leader  and  Forerunner  ?  Oh,  rest  not  without 
a  full  experience  of  the  heavenly  priesthood  of  Jesus,  and  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary  as  your 
abode. 

3.  Grace  be  with  you  all,  beloved  readers ;  all  the  grace  this  Epistle  has  so  wondrously 
revealed  ;  all  the  day  and  for  all  and  every  need.     With  all  of  you,  not  one  excepted— Amen. 


MORRISON    AN»  GIHn,    I'RINl  KRS,    F.niNUL'RGII. 


DATE  DUE 

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